Annex To Ashes
by Banger1897
Summary: January 22, 2077. Canada is annexed. The images of a man being shot on the streets will remain the iconic visual of the time. The events of that tragic day will set in motion the uprising of a nation rallying behind an unexpected ally more unstable then the people's rebellion. Rated M for Extreme Violence / Language and Mature Sexual Themes
1. Chapter 1

_-I trip to the past. This story takes us back to the Annexation of Canada during the Chinese occupation of Alaska. The newspapers and live covering told the story like this._

_When the Chinese took Alaska, Americans demanded that Canada allow them access to fend off the invaders. The Canadian government was not so obtuse. They knew this was a plot to gain access to their own oil supply in Alberta. With the heavy threats taking hold finally Canada had no other option and backed down. As predicted, Canada was annexed which lead to pandemonium in the streets across the country. -_

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**Chapter 1 - Pilot**

"I swore I saw her go in here," the deep voice of a man explained as he moved across the kitchen floor with calculated steps. In the crawl space beneath his feet, terrified green eyes gazed up through the slits in the floorboards. A hand - her own hand - covered her mouth to muffle any sobs she may cry. With each heavy step, a trickle of dust mist her pale, young face.

"Have you been drinking again, Haynes?" another man's voice replied with a tone of arrogance. His voice was much higher than the others. "Come on. We need to get back with the section. I think that news broadcast will air tonight. Did you see how that guys brains just came out! Dude, it was awesome!" he badgered. "I hope they air it tonight. I bet that will make the girls back home beg for this," he added gesturing to his crotch and thrusting it towards his friend.

"Shut up..." the deep voice of Captain Haynes snapped back. "That bitch is in here I know it"

"So what?" the whiny voice rebutted.

"I just want to talk to her, Weeds," was his sarcastic reply.

"Oh? Ooooh," he laughed.

Their voices went quiet now but their steps carried on. They moved around the kitchen in a zig zag pattern trying to find their target. The vibrant green eyes below watched and prayed that these men would just leave. She couldn't see their faces behind the thick armoured helmets they wore. Tears streaked down her face but still, she kept herself from letting out even a whimper.

"I'll check upstairs" the light voice informed. Her eyes went wide as panic replaced the fear. She coughed. Suddenly the helmet's black glass eyes fell to the floor. He knew.

"Got her!" he suddenly called out as the massive metal fist came crashing through the floor. There was a violent ear-piercing scream as she felt the hand lock on her arm and pull her from the lower level crawl space.

"Let me go!" she begged and pleaded with tears in her eyes. "Murderers! Fuck you! FUCK YOU!" she hollered until she felt her throat getting soar. The two men in power armour laughed at the pathetic display.

"Shut the fuck up!" Haynes snapped as he forced her down on the kitchen table.

Plates, cutlery and glasses crashed to the floor and shattered.

* * *

It had been set for two - the woman and her husband. The meal had cooked on the stove when there came a knock at the door. Two men asked to see her husband. When he came forth they grabbed him and dragged him into the streets calling him a collaborator. She screamed and pleaded with the men that they were making a mistake. She thrashed and kicked at them knowing too well that their armour shielded them from her lashing.

Her husband begged her to go back inside and hide. They both fell silent for a moment before he uttered a single world. A name. Not her name but a name that made her nod and run back into the house.

Then, they shot him as he knelt with his back turned in a cold-blooded execution. His wife turned back only for a second to see his body crumple and paint the street red with blood. She ran back into the house. To her surprise it was silent. She moved through the kitchen trying to make her way to the stairs but there was no time as the front door was kicked open. Desperately, she looked for a place to hide. She threw open the closet and pulled herself into the crawl space.

* * *

The smaller of the two men, the one with the whiny voice suddenly appeared in the kitchen and held down her arms.

"Come on man! We don't want to be late! Hurry up!" he barked to the other. The larger of the two men smiled behind his helmet. He hit the release of the power armour and it fell away off his body. He looked at the terrified woman as if she were nothing. Just another Canadian cunt.

"Fucking collaborating whore!" he snapped as he violently smacked her across the face. She whimpered and gazed up at him with hostile loathing.

At least 6'3 and built by one who took many performance enhancing pharmaceuticals, Haynes was the brick shit house of his regiment. His skin was fair but carried some colour by the sun despite being in the power armour during most of the daylight hours. His face was cold, stoic and his smile was more teasing than friendly. His dark smooth eyebrows caved inwards in his anger and excitement. His neatly maintained crew cut gave him a more authoritative stature then his partner. The icy gray eyes stared down at her terrified face.

He struck her once more with the back of his hand. She screamed and sobbed begging them to stop. There was no chance of that. They cut her clothes away with a knife and laughed as she tried to get away. When Haynes finally finished he held her for Weeds to take his turn.

Weeds was thinner and less defined. His light brown hair was messy and portrayed him as the carefree rebel in the section. He hadn't shaved that morning. He smelt of cigarettes and cheap whiskey. She also noted the marijuana smell that lingered in his air as he lay on top of her. Haynes went one more time before he drew the laser pistol from its holster. Vacant, listless eyes looked to the pistol. She sobbed softly waiting for the inevitable. There was only one shot and her muffled cries were silenced forever.

"This is nice! Bet Karen will love this," Haynes spoke as he pulled the simple white gold necklace off the woman's throat. The sparkling white diamond in the center gleamed up at him in the light of the January sun.

They didn't speak much to one another as they got dress but Weeds sudden gasp just about made Haynes leap on the table. Haynes turned to see whatever had shocked his partner so. They both stood with gaping mouths at the set of big green eyes staring back at them.

The small frail little child didn't speak. Her straight smooth blonde hair clung to her soft pink cheeks. She couldn't have been older than four. She stared at the men in armour with no accusation or alarm. She was entirely vacant of expression. The two men looked at one another in slight disbelief. How long had she been standing there?

"We gotta go, Cap," Weeds finally spoke up as he moved past the child towards the door. Her eyes didn't follow him. They were locked on Haynes who seemed frozen in place by an unknown force. "Haynes! Let's go!" Weeds shouted which seemed to release Haynes from his invisible binds.

Without a word he stepped by the girl who followed his movements down the hallway with only her eyes and a turn of the body. He looked back at her as he shut the door.

For days it haunted Haynes. He couldn't sleep. He barely ate. He had been promoted from Captain to Major with honourable mentioning of his bravery during the war. He was indifferent to the promotion entirely. When his guys went out to the tent to loosen up with the leafy plants Weeds had secured from the local population, Haynes stayed in his room and stared into nothing.

Major Mack Haynes leader the Psychological Operations team of an American Special Forces unit. A former ranger now Green Beret was accredited with more honours then all the men in his section combined. For a man in his late twenties he was the envy of the regiment. Four Medal of Valors, two Silver Stars, one Purple Heart for taking a bullet to the back and his proudest achievement; the Distinguished Service Cross for pulling three men out of a burning Vertibird that had crashed when they had come under fire during a raid. He used the downed aircraft as cover while suppressing enemy fire on his own ad protecting his wounded men. Even after he was shot in the back he continued to hold ground until a medevac was able to land - of course only after the area was cleared all thanks to him.

Haynes wasn't exactly a family man. His career always came first even when the question circulated if he and his long term girlfriend, Karen and him were ever going to settle down. He always gave the boys the same answer. If the army wanted him to have a family, they would issue him one. It was a cliche one liner but the boys enjoyed hearing it nonetheless.

Karen was at home in San Diego. She came from a well off family. Her dad was an investor. Made all his money in stocks. It was a good reason to be with a woman like Karen. She would never take his money. She had her own. She was with him for the status. Nothing like dating the All American Hero of the war against the Commies. The two had met when her father had been invited to a formal function. He had made a large donation to the research and development sector of the company that now supplied these fine young soldiers with the best power armour the lowest bidder would put out.

Karen didn't do much other than spend Daddy's money. With the mother in rehab for drug addiction, Karen was enjoying the night life of the rich and famous while her boyfriend was away playing 'hero.'

With all the glory came the self entitlement. Each medal on his chest told of his bravery but masked the evil within. The burning of houses. The murdering of civilians. The raping of women. He had done some horrible things but there was one he couldn't shake. What had become of the child?

On one of his days off he returned to the house. The man's body was no longer in the streets. As he opened the door he was met with silence. There was no longer a meal on the stove in the kitchen. It looked peaceful and calm inside. There was no blood on the table or the body of the woman. Everything looked as though nothing had gone wrong here. He wondered if a neighbour come and cleared the place. He climbed up the stairs and checked some of the rooms.

Nothing.

Finally, he went to the master bedroom. Before he opened the door he could smell it.

Even through the filter of the mask the smell was strong and sickening. He opened the door and just about collapsed at what he saw. Two bodies with half their heads missing were lying in bed with their arms across one another. Wedged between them was a tiny child whose liquid green eyes stared at him. The sight was disturbing and he felt himself vomit in his mouth and force it back down. She was covered in the blood of her parents. How she had moved their bodies in the house was beyond him. Somehow that tiny body not only got them up the stairs but into their bed too.

He moved across the floor and lifted her out from between the lifeless bodies of her parents. She didn't protest. She wrapped her little arms around his neck as he carried her out of the house.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The piercing scream silenced everyone in the classroom instantly. Their attention all turned to the seven-year old boy now writhing on the floor holding his shoulder in sheer agony. A smaller child stood over him gazing down as he hollered in pain. Accusations of guilt flew from his mouth between his sobs.

"She did it! She did it!" he shouted in hysteria as blood began to collect on the pale gray carpet beneath him. The teacher rushed to the boys aid almost throwing the smaller female out of her way as she knelt at his side.

"What have you done!" the teacher's voice boomed as her eyes fell upon the sweet angelic face of the young blonde haired girl who stood her ground.

"Nothing! I was holding my pencil and he ran into me!" she rebutted and pouted with crossed arms.

"The chair! Now!" Miss Grace the elementary class teacher ordered as she scooped the injured boy up in her arms and carried him out of the class calling for help. Another teacher heard her cries and rushed down the narrow hall of the four classroom school wing.

"What is it?!" the older teacher, Mrs. Loom rushed forth.

"It's Haynes' daughter again..." she mumbled but her attempt to hide her voice failed for they were picked up by tiny eavesdropping ears.

"He ran into me!" she screamed out to the teachers in the hall as she slumped down in the chair as she was directed. She looked down at her hands splashed with red liquid like the paint they had used last week to make anniversary cards for their parents. She pressed her fingers together feeling how sticky it was. The liquid began to get tacky as she rubbed her hands together. A sinister smile played across her face as she rubbed her hands quickly seeing the red speckles fall to the carpet like little red snowflakes.

"Stay in that chair, missy! Don't you dare move!" Miss Grace snapped as she and Mrs. Loom took the injured boy to the infirmary. She returned within the minute with a disgruntled look on her face as she eyed the young seven-year old with worry and anger all wrapped into one emotion. She wished to speak and yet nothing came out. She seemed to be playing with the words in her mind. She raised a finger then lowered it. Rather than address the child she moved to the phone and dialed a four digit number. While it rang she dismissed the other students to their homes.

The class seemed overjoyed with the early dismissal and put away the toys and books before dispersing into the halls in all directions. The girl rose from her seat thinking this included her but Miss Grace put up her hand indicating to stay put. The child pouted once more and slumped again in the chair with a little "Hmph!" for attitude.

She could hear the conversation perfectly. A man picked up on the other line.

"This is General Haynes," he spoke forcefully.

"I am sorry to bother you, Sir but it's urgent I see you right away. Your daughter did something today that I would like to discuss before I send her home. You know I wouldn't be bothering you if I didn't think it was an absolute emergency," her calm voice cooed into the phone.

Her words were met with a drawn out silence for a few seconds and a deep sigh into the phone.

"I am on my way down," the General spoke as his voice carried disappointment just by the tone.

Neither teacher nor child spoke a single word to one another until a sturdy man with short dark hair with a perfect crew cut appeared in the doorway. He was in a clean pressed service dress uniform with honour ribbons cascading down his left breast. The stars on his epaulettes displayed his rank with dignity and honour. He was cleanly shaven and handsome with a square jaw and dark cold gray eyes. Sturdy shoulders and a thick chest displayed his top physical condition despite his mid thirties age. He stood straight even as his face gave away his unsettled emotion.

"What did she do now?" was all he asked as he folded his arms and eyed his daughter.

"She stabbed a boy with a pencil," Miss Grace informed.

His eyes immediately flashed to her.

"He's alright!" she got in before his mind raced with the possibilities.

"HE RAN INTO ME!" the child shouted but when the General raised his hand she fell silent.

"Sir, I know you have a lot on your plate but this is her fifth violent outburst this month. We've only been in structured studies a month and I fear for the safety of the other children. Her episodes are getting worse and she shows no remorse or understanding that she has done anything wrong. Each time she refused to apologize. I didn't think there was any reason to tell you when it happened but just four days ago she found a dead rat God only knows where and brought it into the class. She wouldn't let me near it and said if I touched it she'd bite. When it was time to go home at the end of the day she simply threw it in the garbage and left my class," the teacher explained.

General Mack Haynes listened in silence taking in her every word.

"I know it's not my place but perhaps she would benefit from psychiatric therapy? I know you and Doc Felm are good friends. Maybe speak to him and see what he says. I hope you understand, Sir I just can't allow her back in the class until she is ready to be a normal child," she tried to catch those last words. The General's brows caved inwards slightly as she presumed his little girl was not a 'normal child.'

"Thank you for your insight Miss Grace," was all he said as he held out his hand. The small child took it as she rose from the chair and was led out of the classroom.

Miss Grace fell into her desk chair with a heavy sigh. The last person she wanted to offend was the Base Commander.

"Go to our house and don't tell Karen about this." Haynes told the child without uttering anything about the incident that just took place. The child released his hand and gingerly made her way down the well-lit hallway of the deep tunnel system. Haynes watched her skip along before disappearing through a heavy metal door. He carried on towards the infirmary hearing the pained squeals of a boy as he drew nearer. He opened the door and emerged into the large hospital wing of Fort Orleans. Standing in the main hall was his old friend, Doctor Felm. Chief of Surgery who also had a vast degree of knowledge in Psychiatrics.

Felm greeted Haynes with eyes of forgiveness and understanding as he approached the General and shook his hand.

"I know why your here," Felm told him as he led him past a small boy having his shoulder dressed and to his private back office. He shut the door behind them and offered the General the large leather chair at his own leisure. The General sat with his elbows on the desk and his head in his hands. There were few people who were allowed to see him like this - Doc Felm was one of them.

"Is the boy alright?" Haynes asked as his his head lifted slightly and his eyes met Felm's.

"Just fine. He is loving the popsicles now that we removed the pencil" he told Haynes.

"So what should I do? Is there some magic pill I can give her and all this goes away?" he asked. This kind of medicine was far from his area of expertise.

"Well, let me ask you this Mack. What's her story? I mean, I know how you got her but how did her grandmother die? Did she witness it?" he asked.

Haynes had run this story over and over in his mind nearly every day. It had been the only way to keep her. A story that grew over time and became more complex as he life went on. Fake roots with a fake family and a fake tragic death that left him as her sole guardian. It was pretty much bullet proof with fake documentation to back up any accusation.

"No, her Grandmother just simply passed away in her sleep from what I was told," he lied.

"She's never resented you for being her God Father and not her real Dad?" Felm asked.

"We don't talk about her parents. She doesn't remember them nor do I think she wants to," Haynes told him.

"The only reason I ask these questions are because these outbursts are often attributed to a traumatic event in the past. You of all people know of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Well, in children it can take on a slightly different form," Felm told him.

"There is nothing wrong with my child," Haynes spoke up as his voice got slightly more defensive.

"I am not saying it's something you did..." the Doc began.

That struck a nerve in the General and he shifted slightly in his seat.

Doc Felm went on, "but maybe the people who brought her to you were not honest," he concluded. Despite being a close friend, Felm could tell it was unwise to upset the Base Commander. "Though, it is also possible to blame the apocalypse" he managed to cut in.

"You think maybe that affected her more personally?" Haynes questioned. He wish he had thought up this excuse years ago.

* * *

The bombs fell just months after he took her from her parents dead hands. Her strange behaviours seemed to be noticed just a few short months after they affected and blew the world to shit.

He was thankful in some ways. She never brought up her parents. She seemed to push it so far back in her mind that even she didn't know how to reach them. That's not to say it was easy in the beginning. From day one she didn't speak. That went on for nearly the entire year before she started to refer to him as Dad as he asked her to.

In that first year he filled her head with falsified stories of her 'parents' - how he and her father had been college roommates back in pre-war days. They played college ball together too. They even enlisted in the United States Army together. Dead Dad met Dead mom and they had her. Haynes was asked to be the child's God Father which he accepted graciously. Fake Mom and Dad were then sent to Alaska on a posting during the Chinese occupation which meant their baby girl was to live with her Grandmother in Denver. Alaska was no place to raise a baby. Not in a war zone.

Fake Mom and Dad were killed during one of the the many Chinese bombing runs. Shortly after Grandma too passed away which left no one but the God Father.

At just the tender age of four he carried her back one night after a day of leave informing the highers what just went down. No one questioned it. Haynes, the man who never wanted a family now had a toddler daughter. Over time the story became truth. She never once brought up the past or asked in depth questions about her biological parents of even her grandmother.

Things had changed immensely from that cold January morning to the present day.

When the bombs fell turning the country he loved and defended into a desolate wasteland, Haynes was promoted to Brigadier General. The sudden loss of so many required those who remained alive to carry the load and lead the survivors. He and those who were collected within his ranks were sent south from Forward Operating Base Vancouver in Canada to Fort Orleans in Louisiana. What was left of it.

It was their task to build up their defenses and aid in the new effort to reestablish the New United States of America in the image of the Enclave. Fort Orleans' primary objective, Research and Development. By no means was Mack Haynes qualified for such a task but that didn't stop his promotion to a Two Star General in such a short period and such a young age. There just wasn't the numbers or the experience anymore. It had to be done.

Despite the odds being against him, Haynes not only met the expectations of the Enclave but surpassed them with advancements in Plasma and Laser Weaponry as well as Stealth Recon Armour which they came up against when facing the Chinese thanks to a dedicated and capable team at his disposal.

Fort Orleans was lucky not to be hit too hard when the bombs fell. It was called the ICEBERG. Very little of the base was exposed to the outside world. Most remained underground and out of sight. On the surface it appeared as a simple training base with a small population which perhaps was the reason it was spared from the heavy barrage. It just didn't look like a place worth hitting.

When Haynes and his staff arrived on ground almost everything was destroyed on the surface but the underground was untouched. This made fortifying the infrastructure almost easy despite the rough times. They were lucky to be well equipped and well prepared with the knowledge to survive as the world went to shit around them. For that reason, Haynes ordered that no one was to leave the base unless under strict authorization from himself only. On the outside surface the base appeared dead and deserted when in fact, it housed nearly three thousand staff.

Just because the world ended didn't mean his life had to. Karen and him were married upon his take over of Fort Orleans. Her parents were wiped out in the bombings not that it mattered for it seemed the old currency just wasn't of much value anymore. The child would also need a mother though Karen didn't really feel up to the task. Around friends and colleges she played the part but that was about it. She didn't force the girl to call her mother as Haynes had with the word Dad. The child seemed like more of a burden in these times especially with her poor behaviour. Still, Haynes insisted on keeping the child despite his wife's bitching.

* * *

"She's led a troubled childhood. It's very likely she's dealing with it in her own subconscious. Yes, we can medicate but in situations such as this, especially with a child I strongly recommend against it. Perhaps counseling sessions would be best. Maybe every weekday for an hour after class?" Felm suggested with a positive tone as he paced around the office.

"I don't want counseling to interfere with her studies. Let's try meds. If those don't work we'll talk again about your way," Haynes' tone came out as an order rather then a suggestion. He rose from the chair and moved towards the door. There was no way Felm would sway the General's mind. He simply nodded despite his own thoughts on the matter and handed Haynes a clear bottle of orange pills. "One with breakfast. One before bed," he told his friend. Haynes accepted the bottle and shut the door behind him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Applause came from the viewing platform high above the sim-range as the successful launch of the Gauss Rifle took place. A weapon design thought to be lost for all times on account of The Great War. The only one to stay in descent but not working shape had been General Haynes' own when he won it in a poker game. He insisted the staff do their best to get it working again and today their effort paid off.

The rifle wasn't the only reason to celebrate. Chinese Stealth Armour had also been repaired and improved for the user. A deadly combination for today's sniper. Stealth, weapon efficiency, and power – all the necessities for a successful kill. The room cheered as Haynes' assistant, Major Lee demonstrated the use of the armour and rifle simultaneously.

Major Lee was a slender Japanese woman who could fit into the slender armour as it was built for a small framed Chinese man. Her skills with the rifle were an added bonus. All the targets within the range were annihilated by an invisible force moving silently around the room undetected by all. Everyone was blown away with how it all performed. When Lee appeared before them all standing next to Hayne's they cheered even louder.

"Can't believe we did it!" seemed to be the common phrase spoken by all around the room. Suddenly a hush fell over the room as Haynes raised his hand.

"Let this not be our only discovery," he began. "A team from the new Enclave Military Headquarters in Washington State arrived earlier this morning! They bring with them a letter from General West saying that we are to begin inhabiting the lands around us once more! These walls have been our home too long. Man wasn't meant to stay caged for a lifetime. Our children need to see the sun once again. They need to breathe cleaner air and as our Recon Teams report - that day has come. It has been fourteen long years but this year will be the one we remember," he told them.

Tears in the eyes of those in the room met with the cheers. Haynes couldn't have been more pleased with how it all turned out and the glorious news he was privileged to share with his head staff and those he loved. His attention fell on the bright green eyes that starred directly at him. The tender smile that played on her face warmed him. She rose from her chair and embraced her father in a tight hug. She was so proud of him. He ran his fingers through her long beige blonde hair. She nearly came up to his chin now.

Fourteen years.

In 2077 the Great War came and went with devastating results. His once small child was now a youthful teenager growing in mind and body at an alarming rate. Not a girl but a blooming young woman who would of had the boys swooning if they weren't utterly terrified of her. Despite her father and her looks, the young woman wasn't exactly popular in Fort Orleans. Talk circulated the halls of the girls violent outbursts and all around poor behaviour. Still, on account of her father everyone remained open to having her around. It didn't happen as frequently but perhaps she was getting better at concealing her acts. When things went missing or people suffered 'accidents' they often pointed the finger in her direction but nothing ever came of it.

She took the meds for him - her father. He insisted she was just restless in the confines of the base and that the pills were to relax her. He would monitor her for months ensuring she took every one. He would trust her and would stop watching her swallow the orange pills every day. Like a vicious circle it would happen. A random mishap around the base was the first indication. A black eye, a broken arm, and the setting off of the security turrets which sent the base into room lockdown for three days before someone could override the system. The nightmares would follow within the week. She'd wake up in a sweat screaming in her father's embrace urging her to relax. He would watch her take the pills again for months and the process would repeat. They didn't come without their rewards either. The shaking hands. The desire to sleep most of the day away. The all around blah to everything around her.

Today, she took the pills. She took them for him because today was all about him and what he had done for these people. Not that she really cared for any of them. She smiled because he would want her to smile. Even as she felt the cold hand of Karen on her shoulder she forced the grin to remain glued on her face. She spun to see the cruel stare of the woman who replaced her arms with her own around her husband.

"Oh sweetie! Such wonderful news," Karen forced which made the teen roll her eyes.

Oh, how she despised that woman. Such fake emotions that rivaled her own but at least she had medication to blame. What was Karen's excuse? The long light auburn hair glowed in the artificial light of the room. Karen was pretty, she gave her that but there were more brains in a teddy bear then that woman. It brought some joy to her heart to hear rumours that involved Karen rather than herself. The woman hadn't made many friends in this place either. All she ever did was bitch about the old days. No more shopping or fancy restaurants. Just a grimy base with a bunch of commoners.

Haynes embraced the two women.

"I love my girls," he told them as the two women glared at one another in their man's embrace.

That night they sat in the large Commanders Suite of the barracks wing and ate a prepared meal. Haynes got up to grab another beer only to grimace at the sight of the empty liquor fridge.

"Honey, will you go down to the mess and grab another case for me?" he asked.

The young girl rolled her eyes but smirked.

"Alright," she said as she rose from her seat and left for the mess. The bar looked as any old war times bar would have. Deep greens and red. Leather booths and bar stools situated around an oak wood counter. There was only one person in the place tonight. He seemed content with sipping his whiskey as she sat on the stool waiting for Blaine, the bartender to notice her.

"Ah! Miss Haynes. Just heard the great news!" Blaine, the elderly man who ran this place spoke. She didn't mind Blaine. He never said a word against her even when she stole bottles for nearly three months before getting caught. The man sipping his whiskey looked up at her but did not speak.

"Dad ran out. Can we grab a case?" she asked as she noticed the eyes on her. This man was new. She never saw him before in her life and spending fourteen years with the same people means you know them all.

"Sure sweetheart. I'll grab it from the cellar," Blaine replied as he left the area.

"Haynes?" the strange man spoke up as he eyed her carefully. He was a thinner man but a soldier nonetheless on account of the uniform with the Enclave patch on the left shoulder, but that was about it. The name displayed on his uniform read, 'Weedley.' He was poorly kept. Hair grew in past regulation and he hadn't shaven in weeks it seemed. He smelled of something she never smelled before and couldn't place.

"Yes," was all she said.

"You're Haynes' kid? That kid?" he asked sounding astonished.

"Yes," she said again more coldly.

"That Canadian brat he snatched up? The one he sobbed over for days thinking about. Holy shit! No way! He kept you all along?! My god how did that son of a bitch do it?" he blurted.

She just eyed him like the drunk idiot he was.

"I think you're confused buddy. Have another drink," she mocked as she stood from her stool. The drunken moron got up too.

"You don't remember me? I was there! I was there when he saw ya! Hell I saw you too! Man you just about scared me shitless when I saw ya standing there all doe eyed," he went on in his stupor. "Where are my manners! Sorry kid. I doubt you want to talk about that shit. I know your dad. I know you too but only for about 1 minute when you were just a teeny thing. Your dad and I were in the same platoon during the Canadian Campaign in 2077! Like brothers we were. FUCK! That kind of makes me like ... your uncle or something. Uncle Weeds!" he announced loudly despite her close proximity. He went silent for a moment. "My god ... you look just like your mom" he mumbled before he belched loudly and reached for the whiskey bottle.

At that moment she ducked out of the mess and ran back up to their suite. She'd lie and say Blaine was sick or something so her Dad wouldn't be angry that she came back empty-handed. That guy really freaked her out.

Despite the medication - that night she had the worst dream of all.

* * *

_She was in an unfamiliar house. She was tiny - just a toddler. She was playing with a stuffed dog and a black knight on a white horse figurine when there came a knock downstairs at the front door. _

_The voices were inaudible but what had been quiet suddenly turned to screams. The door slammed as the hollering carried on outside. She walked over to the window to high for her curiosity to be filled and overturned the garbage pail to step on. She watched as a man was brought to kneel by two black knights like her figurine. _

_Suddenly there came a loud bang and the man fell forwards – then another her dream, she mumbled 'Daddy' for some reason. _

_She heard the door burst open downstairs once again. She didn't want to get in trouble so she got off the pail and picked up her stuffed dog and black knight toy. Someone was rushing up the stairs to her but suddenly there came a crash at the door. Whoever was coming for her had now changed direction, retreating back down the stairs and silence fell on the house.  
_

_Some one had come into the house. Their footsteps thumped against the floor on the level below. The child just listened behind the close door as their muffled voices carried through the home. Footsteps began to move up the stairs before there came a shout and a crash. Screams once again rattled the house. It sounded exciting and she wanted to see what was going on. She opened the door and walked along the upper floor. She sat on her bum as she moved down each step one at a time. She seemed to know where she was going despite never being here before. _

_She walked towards what she knew to be the kitchen and watched as the black knights removed their armour. She looked down at the small figurine in her hand. She watched in silence as each one lay on the woman. She wanted to call out. She wanted to call the woman her mom but she didn't speak. The knight pulled something out and a loud bang filled the house. _

* * *

"I got you!" came a familiar voice. Haynes held his child as she shook in his arms. "What the hell was that?" he asked her as she looked frantically around the room. When she finally settled he removed himself. "Are you alright?" he asked as he sat at the side of her bed. She nodded slowly but her wide eyes told him she was far from alright. She looked up at her father - the kind face that had shown her nothing but compassion for as long as she could remember. He didn't speak another word as he pulled up a chair and sat at her side. "Go back to bed. I will stay here," he told her.

"It's alright Dad. I'm okay. Just a ..." she began.

"No, no. I am here," he assured.

She closed her eyes but sleep didn't come. Still, even as she pretended to lie there he never budged from the chair even as the simulated daybreak broke into the room.

Neither one spoke of the dream at breakfast. Her Dad seemed quick to dismiss it as he went to another morning meeting to discuss future plans. The youth couldn't bring herself to forget the vivid thoughts that haunted her that night.

She thought about that man in the bar. He said he was there in Canada when they got her. As far as she knew she never step foot in Canada. Her parents had been proud all American's before they were killed. Something didn't add up. She didn't know what to expect or uncover but she didn't have any other way to spend the day. Dad's office was easy to break into. She did it so many times before to read the file he kept about her 'accomplishments' around the base. This time her eyes were on the computer. She never tried to hack it before. Of course when prompted to write a password she looked around the room for anything that would give her a hint.

ORLEANS, fail.

KAREN, fail.

She typed in her own name, access granted. That was sweet. She smiled a little.

She began to dig up files on anything remotely out of the ordinary. So far, it all seemed clean. She was about to give up after an hour or so when she noticed the full recycle bin icon. Oh come on it couldn't be that easy. She opened the icon and sure enough years of data displayed itself. Stuff he had just put in there this morning. Leave it to her father to know everything about guns but when it came to a computer, she recalled watching him type with just his two index fingers. Bet he never knew he actually had to clear the recycle bin.

She scrolled to the bottom and finally made it. Everything was dated. There was a media file labeled 'U.S. to Annex Canada.' She opened and read the dated newspaper article. It told about how Canadians were rioting and taking up arms against the invading Americans. She minimized that and brought up another media file. This one was labeled "Canada falls." The short seconds of video took a moment to download but when the image displayed on the screen and the segment played out - she just about crumpled to the floor. Two men in power armour executing a man in the street.

It was her dream.

So similar it couldn't be coincidence. She paused one part and zoomed in on the image looking upon the names engraved on the men in power armour. The picture was poor but with enhancements she was able to make out the tags. Sure enough the man pulling the trigger was Weeds. The man laughing in the background was her father - Haynes. She hit print screen and ran to the printer to collect the piece of paper. She closed all the programs and ran from the office. She didn't know what questions to ask. Perhaps this was all out of context but something was driving her to ask the man she called her father what this was all about. What her dream was all about? Who was the man in the bar and what truth was there in his wild story?

She didn't care that she disrupted the meeting. She swung the door open demanding to see her father.

"Honey. I am a little busy right now. This can," he begun.

"No, it can't" she snapped. His eyebrows raised seeing how bent out of shape she was.

"Excuse me for a moment," he said as he dismissed himself from the table. He closed the door behind them and stood with arms folded looking most displeased. "What is it?" he asked angrily.

She presented the photo of the two soldiers executing the man. She didn't say a word. Nor did he but his eyes gave him away. They bore into the picture and his mouth opened slightly.


	4. Chapter 4

_- The darkest chapter yet. Comment if ya like it! -_

**Chapter 4**

How had she uncovered this? He had been so careful. The picture from the televised report of the cleansing in Canada. A man on his knees with a gun to his head by a soldier in power armour while the other stood back and watched.

Her accusing eyes burned deep to the soul. He couldn't bring himself to look at her. How much did she know?

"What really happened to my parents!" she snapped. His eyes finally met her icy stare. He felt his betrayal stinging at every muscle.

"Honey. You need to understand that I," he began but her words cut him off.

"Is this man my father, yes or no?" she demanded.

"Sweetie, please let me explain," he tried as he felt his stomach do a flip. She had him cornered.

"Is this you and your friend shooting my real father in the back of the head while he was on his knees!" she screamed.

He didn't need to say it. His expression gave him away. She couldn't bring herself to cry. She never had before why break a clean record and let the tears flow? What conspiracy was this? How had the man who murdered her real father now call her his daughter? He moved towards her but she backed away from him.

"You have to listen to me. I.." he tried. It was clear that she knew a lot.

"NO!" she screamed as she threw her head in her hands and pulled at her hair. She shut her eyes wishing this was all just the nightmare that would end when she opened her eyes. She didn't know what to do. She felt herself get sick to her stomach. She dry heaved as she replayed the video in her mind. She watched it again and again. Once again Haynes tried to embrace her but she slapped his arms away. Without hesitation she ran away in disgust. She didn't know where to go or what to do. All she felt was rage taking over her more than ever. She wanted answers and she knew where she could get them. She heard his voice call for her but she manouvered her way through the narrow hallways to avoid his pursuit.

The temporary housing wing had never been put to use. Never before had they had any visitors to Fort Orleans. Not until yesterday when the arrival of the Enclave Intel Team brought with them her story teller. Weedley's door was marked in chalk. She knocked before coming up with a plan. She thought about running before he answered but something kept her glued to the spot. Her eyes darted in all directions. The wing was deserted so it seemed. She could hear something rustle on the other side of the door and heavy footsteps. Finally the door swung open. Weeds was looking at her slightly bewildered. He made an awkward frown as his brows came to the middle slightly.

"Well this is, interesting" he mumbled as he rubbed his bloodshot eyes. He grasped a nearly polished off whiskey bottle and slurred when he talked. "What is it kid?" he asked as she stepped into the room and shut the door. She had to be calm and collected if she was going to get the information she needed. She was starring the man responsible for pulling the trigger.

"My Dad doesn't know I'm here," she began when she noticed his brow raise.

"Oh. Well, you want to sit?" he asked as he looked around the small room. There wasn't much to the dark musty room. A single light lit just the small kitchen space and the lower half of the double bed.

That's when she saw it glisten. The officers knife on his bedside table. She looked back at the man and forced a seductive smile.

"I was kind of hoping you'd be able to help me," she told him as she bypassed the small kitchen table and sat on the bedside. She leaned back a little and crossed one leg over the other. He got the hint as he staggered slowly towards her with a smile plastered on his face.

"Geez kid you're a little young don't ya think?" was his best line. That was his concern? Not that he was the man who knowingly murdered her parents. Her age was the issue here?

"I know everyone in this base. None of them appeal to me. I always fantasized that ... my first time would be with a stranger and here you are. I didn't want the opportunity to pass" she teased.

"Fir...first time, huh?" he asked as he blinked several times as the idea of taking this virgin seemed too good to be true.

"Please?" she asked as she bit her bottom lip slightly.

Weeds was stunned. This little virgin was begging him to do her. It was so fucked up. Despite his inebriated state he could still recall doing her mom before blowing her brains out. How could he resist when she offered herself to him like that? He noted her athletic build. Not too tall or short. Her long blonde hair tied back loosely but strands fell over her face. Her ass looked great in the fitted issue dark gray pants. Her tits were begging to be squeezed under that small white T-Shirt. He was imagining biting them as she begged for him. Such a sweet tasty little thing in need of his skills. To have a real man show her what it's like to be a woman.

"Awe babe ... you just lay back and enjoy, ok?" he groaned as he fumbled with the zipper of his pants.

She played her role exceptionally despite wanting to gag when he whipped out his manhood letting his pants fall to his ankles as he approached the bed. He climbed on top taking his weight on his arms placed on either side of her. He leaned down and kissed her neck.

"Mmmmm girl. You're never going to forget this" he whispered in her ear but she didn't hear his words.

She felt so detached from her body. Her eyes were open and yet unfocused as she tried to formulate a plan to get the information she needed. When she felt him reach for her own waistline she snapped back to reality.

"The flexy cuffs," she called out.

"What?" he grumbled.

"The flexy cuffs on the belt of your uniform. For detainees. Let's use them," she suggested curtly as she reached down to the floor and pulled the black pair of flexy cuffs off the belt of his pants that lay there.

"Damn girl I like where your head's at," he told her as he reached for them but she held them tight.

"Let me try," she asked sweetly with a cute smile which was met with a twisted grin on his face.

"Yeah, alright," he mused as he rolled beneath her. She couldn't help but think what fucking idiot would allow the girl whose parents he tortured and murdered to cuff him to a bed? A drunk one was the best answer she could come up with. Sure enough she slipped his wrists into the hard plastic and cuffed him to the bed. His eyes were half shut as he giggled with anticipation.

"Come, sit on my face," he called as the smile grew. At the moment she was seated on his stomach with her knees folded back and on either side of him. It would appear she was looking at him when in truth she had the knife in her sights. She wanted to see it - the terror in his eyes. She wanted to know the truth. How much of it was real. How accurate was her dream? She didn't want him to panic so she kissed up his chest lifting his shirt as she wandered higher towards his neck. He closed his eyes taking in the sensation unaware her hand had reached for the small blade. Her fingers coiled around the handle as she pressed the metal across the flesh of his neck.

His eyes flashed open.

"BITCH!" he snapped violently when he saw the knife. He bucked and kicked but it did very little the way he was bound with both arms raised over his head.

"Shut the fuck up and listen," she barked in a low cruel whisper. "If you value that cock of yours you seemed so excited to fuck me with, then you're going to answer my questions."

He strained and heaved but it was clear he wasn't going anywhere. Still, he called a bluff.

"Fuck you bitch. You aren't getting shit," he spat back at her.

Without hesitation she reached up to his face and took his ear in her hand.

"Last chance," she murmured.

He looked up at her with a fiery loathing glare. She could see the twitch in his snarl. His face was filled with blood it almost glowed red. He was straining against the cuffs. His hands were white with all the effort he put in and yet they held. Accepting he was stuck there he raised his chin and spat on her face.

Her lip twitched as she contained her desire to lash out and go on a stabbing rampage. She merely raised her arms and wiped the spit from her cheek.

When she began to cut he screamed and kicked harder than ever. It was pretty hard to avoid the flying knees and the biting at the same time. It didn't help that the knife was somewhat dull and the ear didn't sever as well as she thought it would. It ripped and sawed as she met flesh and cartilage with the blade. Like cutting a very tough and overcooked piece of meat. It took effort but she finally had the fold of skin in her hand and was dangling it for his view as a sadistic smile plastered across her face. She was enjoying this. Perhaps too much but she wasn't about to let morals get in the way of her goal.

"PSYCHOTIC CUNT I AM GOING TO STICK THAT KNIFE IN YOUR ASS THE SECOND YOU..." she pulled a sock off her foot and stuffed it in his mouth.

"Now, maybe you'll listen to my questions," she said calmly as she placed the ear on the ground. Despite the wound there was not as much blood as she thought there would be. His pillow was soaked there was no question about that but it seemed to be stopping already.

She slid down his body and grasped his penis in her hands. She placed the knife to the shaft and asked her first question. She could see his eyes bulge. His entire body went rigid as he felt the serrated edge touch his exposed flesh. He snapped his eyes shut for a moment thinking she was going to do it right that second but she didn't. He knew she wasn't fucking around anymore.

His ear was now cleanly severed from his head. What was chopping off his dick in comparison? In her eyes, probably not much.

If he played along with her little game maybe it would spare him further agony. The second he felt his bonds come lose or she released him he vowed he would make her suffer to the end for this just as her mother had.

"Where were you when you shot the man in the televised report?" she asked. Now she removed the sock. He glared at her with burning hatred but he didn't scream.

"Vancouver, British Columbia," he groaned.

"Where's that?"

"South West city in Canada"

"What were you doing?"

"We were part of a Special Psychological Operations team called in to infiltrate key players in the Canadian offense before The Great War"

"What was my Da ... General Haynes' position?"

"He was a Major back then. He was platoon commander and I was his second in command"

"Who was that man? The one you executed?"

Weeds paused. He had to choose his words carefully so not to insult her further. She held the knife and one violent outburst could mean the end for Weeds Junior.

"He was an insurgent. Canadian citizen planning the assassination of the American Field Commander"

"Who was he to me?"

Again, Weeds paused. He looked right at her as he spoke.

"I suppose he was your real father," he informed.

She felt her heart race as the questions went on.

"What happened to my mother?"

"We killed her too," was all he said. No need to go into the details of that fiasco. She held a knife to his dick. One wrong word and off it went.

She struggled a bit with the next question.

"Why?"

"Because they were Canadians. No one would care," he mumbled as his eyes fell from her own.

The next few seconds were hazy. The room seemed to spin and she felt like she had been removed from her body and was watching something out of a movie. When reality finally came to her she saw the mess before her.

Weeds was dead. How much time had gone by? She could vaguely recall the events that just took place. How she slowly severed his balls from the rest of his body. How he writhed in agony screaming and calling her every name he could possibly come up with. The tears that mixed with his blood on the pillow. She recalled how he threw up as the pain overwhelmed him. He wouldn't stop screaming, she placed his severed scrotum in his mouth to muffle his cries. She noted the knife carved deeply down his chest now embedded in his middle. It was twisted to the left. Blood was splattered everywhere. She was covered in it. The floor. The ceiling. The mattress soaked through. Everything was coated in the thick red liquid of life.

She got off of him and backed towards the door. There was no getting out of this one. She had to go. Now. She had to leave. She casually walked to the bathroom and stepped into the shower with all her clothes. She looked down at the warm crimson water swirling down the drain. She didn't turn the tap off until the water ran clear. She dried herself off with the towel on the rack as best as she could and wandered back into the living area. She pulled out a chair and sat staring at the body. She didn't know how much time had passed when she finally rose from the chair and began to walk towards the Research Labs of the base. No one seemed to raise their eyes off their work as the damp teen walked casually through the halls. No one noticed her lack of sock. It wasn't uncommon for her to be down here. Daddy's little girl out and about as usual.

She only had one goal – get to Canada. She didn't know what to expect when she got there. All she really knew was post Great War life in Fort Orleans. What was the world going to be like? Where the hell was Canada other than /North/.? She was going to need help and she knew where to get it. The Weapons Vault was guarded by a pass code only. Fortunately for her she uncovered this code years ago during one of her office raids. She punched in the number and the vault door swung open. There it was. The Stealth Armour and the Gauss Rifle just begging to be taken. She quickly put on the armour and took up the weapon. Now it was time to get out of here. As she had watched Major Lee perform the functions of the suit, she mimicked the Majors actions and instantly she was cloaked. Careful to avoid running into some one she was nearly at the base lockdown door when the alarms went off.

"Shit..." she mumbled as she looked around for a way to open the door before they caught up to her. Truth was she had no idea how to get out of here. This was one pass code The General kept very secret even from her.

The flashes of red were a nuisance as she scoured the panels for a button, an override, anything when a man's voice forced her to spin around.

"I know you're in here," he said. His voice was pained and heavy with sorrow. Haynes stood unarmed across the room looking around for any glimpse of her. It was clear he couldn't see her.

"They discovered Weeds. When I was informed - I knew it was you. You tripped my private alarm when you stole the armour too," he spoke softly. "You deserve to hate me."

"You forced me to live in this fabricated life," her voice called back to him. The echo made it impossible to track.

"After the events of that day I became a changed man," he told her as he took several steps forward.

"All this time I grew up believing I was all fucked up for the wrong reasons. You medicated me so I would never be able to remember. You raised me because you felt guilty for what you had done. You should have let me die with my real parents," she said trying to mask her hysterics.

"I know it's hard to understand but please believe I did love you and still do," he tried.

"I will never forgive you for this," she called out.

"I don't expect you to but I need you to give this up. You're not going to be able to take out everyone in this facility on your own. If you hand everything back to me I may be able to help you," he told her.

"I have no intent on killing anyone and you're right. You are going to help me. You're going to enter the pass code and open this door," she instructed.

"I can't do that..."

/WHOOSH/

A round connected with the wall just to the left of his head. His ears rang and he staggered for a moment. She had missed but barely.

"Please child, that weapon isn't meant to be in the hands of a young..."

"General. I won't ask you again. Enter the pass code so that I may leave," she ordered.

"And where will you go? You don't know what's out there. It's far more dangerous than you could ever comprehend."

"I am leaving. That's that," she snapped "Unless you want this to end in a bloody shoot out I suggest you comply."

He sighed and move to the controls. He inserted his key and entered the code. The buzzer went off as the massive metal door opened.

He forced a smile as the buzzer drew silent.

"I always tried to do right by you. You were my daughter" he uttered somberly.

She was in the doorway, cloaked in her armour ready to accept the outside world when she looked back at him.

"I was never you're daughter"

With that, she turned and left the base.


	5. Chapter 5

_-Thanks for the reviews! To answer a question. I have squashed the NAA. I have updated all previous chapters to incorporate the Enclave instead. It would have been too difficult to incorporate a separate entity of power. Still, I will fill in the blanks with my own fictional rendition of the Enclave's actions post-war as the story goes on. I hope you all like where this goes. Thanks! -_

**Chapter 5**

The first thing that shocked her senses was the smell. The stale putrid air that stung at her nostrils. Like sulphur and human fecal matter all fermenting in a vat on a hot summer day. It took everything inside of her not to throw up. There really was no getting used to it either. The moon was high in the sky. For the first time she was looking at the ivory orb in the sky and seeing it in its true form. There was a slight yellow tint to the glowing sphere. A thick haze blanketed the sky. Particles had yet to settle and seemed stuck in place for the time being. Stars were something still left to unveil themselves. Perhaps in time when the fallout finally settled they sky would open up once again. It was a surreal sight to behold. Rolling hills and exposed rock as far as the eye could see. Very little vegetation remained and what did was scorched.

She felt exposed and alone. She looked back towards the base and yet forced herself to push on. The idea of returning to that place was the last thing she wanted to dwell on no matter how afraid of this new world she was. She didn't have a clue where to go. She tried to recall something Haynes said years ago about Orleans' orientation. That the main exit faced ... dammit what direction? She wanted to say West but she couldn't be certain. What did it really matter? She knew enough about this country to know that perhaps she'd hit a body of water at some point. Couldn't really get off the continent without coming across it whether it was months or years from now. She focused forward and willed one foot in front of the other. She kept the armour engaged in stealth mode despite the desolate setting. She didn't want to be surprised.

She walked for hours and hours taken aback by the sunrise that painted the hills in gold's and red's as it rose higher and higher bringing with it the warmth of a late spring day. It was eerily silent and yet her mind was louder than ever. She wouldn't be surprised if someone detected her just by her thoughts alone and how they pounded at her skull.

She would rest when she needed to but she kept up a quick pace in whatever direction she set on. She tried to position herself noticing the pattern of the sun. So long as she was never travel ling towards or away from it she could kind of find her bearings.

By the seventh day, one week since she left the fort she began to get a bit panicky. She had yet to cross any kind of life. Her food and water put aside in her small pack was exhausted. She maybe had enough for one more day before alternative options had to be arranged. By day nine she had rationed as best as she could. The food and water was now gone. Things were desperate. On the twelfth day she felt as though her body would shut down at any moment. She tried to strip away at the plants to get anything but they just dehydrated her more. Her feet were blistered and her muscles ached in their fatigue and lack of nutrients and exertion.

Perhaps it was the dehydration mixed with the exhaustion but when she finally came across a stale lake she immersed herself in its contents. Had she been able to think rationally she would have never taken off her helmet allowing herself to become visible. She would have never reached into the cool crisp lake and drank until she felt her stomach swell however, this was not the case. She drank until she couldn't swallow anymore. As the seconds turned to minutes she felt her insides start to swell as though she may burst. Instead, she crumpled to her knees and threw up violently. She dragged herself to the rocky shore of the lake and was sick again. She keeled over on her side as her stomach did back flips and her head pounded with each beat of her heart. This was it. The end. On the side of a lake in the wastes of America she was going to die. She wasn't scared. She was angry. Angry that she'd never find out what came of it all. To see what remained of her former life - if anything. She felt pathetic and betrayed by the higher power that convinced her to leave and lead her this far just to die here.

She closed her eyes accepting death inevitably. Better here then back in the blank walls of the fort believing the lie that became her life.

* * *

She rolled on her side feeling the soft fabric brush against her cheek. Her eyes fluttered open slightly as she took in her surroundings. The room was lit by a tiny oil lamp on the bedside table. The air smelt of burning wood and something cooking. She wanted to sit up but her muscles protested. The room was spinning and she found it impossible to focus on anything. It appeared to be an empty room apart from a few kitchen appliances in one corner and a living space in the other. It was safe to assume she was on the bedroom side of this one bedroom shack. The fire burned in the very center allowing the smoke to exit out of a hole in the ceiling.

The door to the shack swung open and a man entered the cabin. He didn't notice her at first. He walked to the fire in the middle of the room and placed a large kettle on the cooking grate. Only when she sat up a little more did his head spin and catch her movement.

"You're awake!" he said cheerfully. He was an older man. Perhaps mid to late sixties. He had a warm smile and cloudy blue eyes. His hair was streaked with silver and gray. He walked towards her with a slight limp in his step. He was clad in a dirty white T-shirt and some tattered brown pants two sizes too big and cinched at his waist with a bootlace.

"I wasn't sure if you were going to pull through but you sure are one hell of a fighter!" he told her with a kind smile. "Name's Teddy. Hope you don't mind I went through your stuff to see if there was anything about ya to give me an idea where ya came from but I didn't find a single thing," he added.

She didn't know what to really say at first. How long had she been asleep for? Where was she? Where was her armour and weapons. He seemed to pick up on her questions through her blank stare.

"I found ya beside the lake. I was out huntin' for hairless shrews when I came across ya. Thought you were dead but you were hangin' in there. Guess it's been nearly twelve days since I first brought you here. You were so sick with radiation poisoning you were almost glowing," he joked and laughed to himself. "All I could do was pump ya full of radaway and keep ya cozy," he informed as he moved towards the small kitchen table set up and sat in a sturdy wooden chair. "So, it's none of my business but you're more than welcome to hang around here until you're good to set back out. You can stay if you wish for as long as you like. I have plenty for both of us. Oh, I placed your armour and weapons in that there dresser. Some fancy stuff you got. Haven't seen the likes of that before. I didn't touch anything just moved em for ya."

She felt a smile grow on her face. She felt secure here for the time being. Teddy was more than a gracious host. It took a couple more days of nurturing before she left the bed. Her stomach took longer to settle. She wasn't vomiting nearly as much as she had when he apparently first brought her here according to him. Finally she was able to leave the small cabin and wander around the property a little bit. She'd help with the day to day activities like cooking and scavenging the shoreline of the lake for odds and ends. She knew she'd be on her way soon but she wanted to repay Teddy for saving her life.

He told her about life in the wastes as he called it after the bombs dropped. Some areas of the country were lucky. They were on the fringe of it all. What wasn't killed right away struggles to survive in today's world. Whatever was going on politically he didn't know. He had no means of communication. Occasionally raiders as he described them would demand supplies. Scavengers would seek a helping hand every now and then in exchange for some information. Other than that he lived one day out at a time. He spoke of horrors she had yet to come across. Mutated people and monsters. Everything he described seemed like a story but he assured her it was all real and she would see it for herself in time.

* * *

It was a warm sunny day just twenty days since Teddy took her in. She was up on the roof patching up the small holes. It was the big project she set out to do before she left. After today she'd be done and planned on leaving tomorrow. Teddy had educated her as best as he could on orienteering and surviving the wastes. She would stock up in the morning and be on her way. The mid afternoon sun warmed her browning skin when three figures appeared on the hillside.

"Teddy..." she called down and pointed with her finger. Teddy looked up from chopping wood and saw the figures.

"They're back. Get inside, kiddo. Put that armour of yours on and stay outta sight," he told her. She did just that.

Just as the suit powered up the figures had appeared in the front yard. She peered through the window as the two men and woman began to discuss things with Teddy. They too were armed. One appeared to be carrying a hammer while the smaller male and female carried some kind of rifle. The girl was very bizarre looking. Her hair was completely shaved except for two pig tails on either side of her head. The larger male was menacing in his own way. Tattoos were etched into his face. His eyes were cold and listless. He twitched and shook slightly as he talked, a common symptom for addicts. All three were clad in mismatched leather pieces with ammo strapped to every orifice. They were dirty and quite skinny. The smaller male seemed content just to listen as the larger male spoke to Teddy. She noted him moving his finger on and off the trigger. If this was going to go bad, she'd be ready.

So long as she was quiet she could hear what they were saying. The larger male was demanding all the radaway Teddy possessed and some other things like food. Teddy was trying to reason with the man but they seemed set in their ways. She didn't like these three. Teddy was a kind man and didn't deserve this. She powered off the suit and stepped out of the shack which seemed to catch the three off guard.

"Who is she?!" snapped the smaller male.

"No one. Just a friend of mine!" Teddy pleaded as he tried to indicate for her to go back inside but she didn't.

The larger male smiled as she stood next to Teddy.

"Wow old man. Got yourself a premium whore there," he mused. He eyed her attire and the Gauss Rifle. "Quite the ensemble and fire power you have there. How about you hand that over too and I won't kill you," he said.

She didn't take the threat too well nor did she like being called a whore. She scowled as she raised the rifle ever so slightly.

"How about you leave. Just leave and no one will get hurt here," she reasoned. All three raiders laughed. The larger male approached her and stood with his face to hers.

"Teach your whore here to mind her words," insulted the male as his attention turned back to Teddy just for a moment when suddenly he was looking down the barrel of the Gauss Rifle. He jumped back raising both arms in the air. Instinctively the female and younger man raised their rifles at her.

"Easy now. We'll go. Don't want to make this ugly," the older male murmured as he turned and began to walk away. The other two followed behind him. She was glad to see them leaving. She lowered the rifle pleased with herself. She had shown them. Before they reached the perimeter fence they turned suddenly. She had no time to react as the barrage of bullets from the two rifles cut through the air. Both her and Teddy hit the ground. She could hear the raiders laughing as they unleashed their rifle .308 rounds upon them. She pressed the small power button on the suit and disappeared. The bullets suddenly stopped as their voices all came out with the same question. "Where is she?"

A massive shot rang out. It launched the girl backwards boring a hole right through her chest. The two men looked at her, then each other in disbelief. Suddenly the smaller man's head blew apart as the second shot rang through. It splattered across the larger male whose eyes went wide as he starred at the vacant space where his comrades head had been. He turned to run but his leg was blown cleanly off by the third powered round. He screamed and crumpled to the ground dragging himself along. She powered down the suit and walked towards the crawling man. Re rolled over on his back gasping and painting. He looked up at the vacant eyes of the female who narrowed her gaze at him. Now he was looking down the barrel of the rifle once again. Then his life was snuffed away as his brains mixed with the soil.

She turned and rushed to Teddy who still lay on the ground. When she was close enough she could see he was lying in a pool of blood. Only when she took a knee at his side and lifted him did she see the extent of his wounds. He smiled at her. She forced a weak smile to try and ease his mind knowing there was no saving him. She didn't know what to say. She wanted to apologize. She wanted to reassure him but she just looked at him in silence. Slowly his eyes shut and she felt his body go limp.

That afternoon she threw the three raiders bodies into the lake. Teddy was buried just outside his house in a shallow grave marked with three large river rocks. She packed what she needed and left the shack behind her. She didn't dwell on the man's death. She knew her actions caused the raiders to fire upon them. A kind innocent man was dead because of her. Nothing would change the past but from now on it made sense not to get too close to anyone in this world. All she could do was keep heading North.


	6. Chapter 6

_- When you get to it you'll understand but there has been some discrepancy about the settlement of Ronto. Is it the fallen city of Toronto Canada or Ohio? I have made it the former Ontario capital with my own twist on the current conditions. Just my own take on things. -_

**Chapter 6**

The temperature hadn't changed much. Maybe a few degrees hotter actually but nothing she really noticed. It was safe to assume summer was in full swing. Her path North had been relatively easy thus far. She put the events that occurred nearly 7 weeks ago at the cabin behind her. She adopted the policy shoot first and don't ask questions ever. Perhaps she owed the suit all the credit for the lack of disturbances. The only thing that had sniffed her out had been feral wild life. Strange overgrown rat things and some large scorpions but it had been days since she last saw one of those. She wouldn't stop at the smaller camps. Generally they seemed to house raiders or other nasty folks. The larger camps and settlements had a more diverse and pleasant atmosphere. She wouldn't speak or reveal herself. She would steal what she needed to go on and leave without anyone noticing she was even there. The suit worked amazingly. The sun allowed for the power cells to charge quickly and last throughout the night with no issues. She never bothered to turn it off.

The landscape was rather arid. She would pass through country side than through built up cities and their neighbouring suburbs. Everything was so desolate. She came to a very large body of water which forced her out of the way for quite some time. It pushed her West for a while before she could continue North. She could see lights in the distance as the sun began to set. It looked like a very large settlement up ahead in the ruins of a very large city. It was worth stocking up and seeking shelter there for the night. With any luck she'd make it to her destination by sunset.

As she drew near she noticed something was very off. Upon entering the settlement she saw the people. At least, she thought they were people. They behaved as people did going about their business in a casual manner. What set them apart was their appearance. Like something she'd never seen or heard of. Their skin looked as though it was decaying on their bones. They were walking corpses. None looked the same. Some appeared to have the condition worse than others. She didn't dare power off the cloaking device. She dared not move for a good long while. She studied these creatures watching their actions and habits. None of them seemed aware that and invisible stranger stood at their door. She slowly and silently made her way down the busy street where vendors and traders met to discuss the days bargains. Something told her that she needed to get out of here and yet something else seemed to assure her that she was in no danger.

Suddenly someone crashed into her from behind. She stumbled forward catching her balance as the box the man had been carrying crashed to the ground. How could she have been so stupid as to not watch her back?

"Hey!" he shouted looking around. "Dammit take that thing off! You're going to hurt someone if they can't see ya!" he called as he began to pick of the contents of the box. She jumped back taken by surprise. How did he assume she was there? She looked around before powering off the device and gauged his reaction. He looked up at her with equal confusion and alarm.

"Well now," he murmured as he starred at her. She felt uncomfortable and was ready to power the suit back on and run as far away from this place when she noted the casual smile from the creature.

"Don't get your kind around here these days. Sorry about running into you. These streets are busy. The last thing you want is to be invisible and have us running into you all day," he told her with a smirk. His dead skin pulled up at the corner in his smile. It was awkward and she caught herself starring perhaps a moment too long.

"You ... have never seen a ghoul before I gather," he added as he finished picking up the items and stood up once again.

She just shook her head slowly trying to comprehend what she was seeing. This was all too surreal. She was talking to a zombie. A real life talking zombie. Something Haynes use to try and scare her with when he told his ghost stories. All this time she thought he was just trying to be scary and utterly failing. Now his horror stories played in her head. All of which told of the frenzy of brain eating and slashing wildly at their human victims.

Hadn't he said there hadn't been a lot a 'her kind' around? Had they eaten them all already? She felt sweat collect on the back of her neck as she took a tiny step back. Once again she felt the desire to flee.

"Don't worry. Most of us are harmless. We won't eat your brains or come chasing after you in a crazy manner" he assured her.

Had he just read her mind?

Not the ones around here at least. The feral ones in Ottawa are a different story," he told her noticing she was a little less on edge. "Welcome to Ronto!" he exclaimed.

The blank look on her face hinted once more that she was totally lost in his words. The ghoul wasn't exactly a history teacher but perhaps he could come up with a suitable explanation on the spot for this traveler.

"Ronto was once Toronto. Captial of Ontario Canada. In 2076 Canada was annexed by the Americans. None of it really lasted too long because when the bombs fell it turned everything to anarchist shit. Why Ottawa was a primary target I'm not sure. Perhaps during American occupancy the Chinese felt Americans would have taken over our capitol. That was true but a lot of innocent Canadians died just so some American big-wigs were obliterated. Whole city has turned feral. Your kind should steer clear. We here in Ronto were lucky just to get hit with the radiation from all directions. Turned us into what you see here. We call ourselves ghouls. Yeah, it's not very nice but it's better than zombies or any other nasty words. We are just like you. Eat the same, talk the same, so forth and so on. It's the feral ones you want to stay away from. So long as you're nice to us, we are nice to you" he assured her.

She breathed a heavy sigh of relief. She felt bad for jumping to the conclusion that they would feed on her brains but what did she expect? Calling themselves ghouls wasn't really a good idea either if they were hoping for a hoping tourism.

For the first time she was able to speak her words.

"I am looking to get to Vancouver. If it's still called that," she told him.

His expression turned a little confused.

"Why the hell do you want to go out that way? It's a far journey and not an easy one. You'd be lucky to make it before the snow falls," he told her.

"I may have been born there. I haven't been there since I was very young. I want to try and find something of my past," she explained.

"Best to forget it. Last I heard that place is a bigger mess than before the war. We get a lot of people who have escaped but no one goes West anymore. Everything you could need is here and East." He informed her. This wasn't the news she wanted to here.

"Look, if you're dead set on going out there then just keep going West. You'll come to more water. If you pass anyone along the route just tell them you're trying to get to the ferry crossing. They should know and point you in the right direction. Once you cross the ferry just keep going West as I said. It's going to be very flat and very boring for a long time but eventually you'll make it there. When you see the high mountains you're almost there but far from it. The Rockies are a treacherous mountain range. Try and stick to the passes from what those who have come have said. I wish you the best of luck, kid" he told her as he walked on.

Poor girl was as good as dead if she was going to try and venture out there. Still, he saw in her eyes that she needed some good news and a helping word. He said what he could but he worried he should have tried to keep her from going out that way.

She herself thought about it for a minute. She had finally made it to Canada and yet she was far from her destination. Was it best to call it a draw and live her life or did she really wish to uncover her past? There really was only one answer. She traveled West.

As directed she reached the shoreline of a Great Lake and sought directions to the ferry. When she finally reached the rickety boat she climbed aboard and in two days made it to the other side. She didn't speak to anyone really. She kept to herself and occasionally listened in on other traveler's conversations. One thing was the same across the board. No one was going as far as she was.

For the most part everyone was quite friendly to a traveler. Only when she really trusted her surroundings did she power off the armour and ask for directions of anything else she required. Everyone had adopted some kind of new currency. They called them caps. During her travels she picked up a few here and there. She'd trade them for water and food or any other supply she required. Eventually the land went very flat and she noted the change in temperature. It was getting much colder and the days were getting shorter. One day was particularly frigid. There was a frost on the ground early in the morning. She could see her breath condense in the air. She was thankful that on this day she finally saw them. They came out of nowhere. They sprung out of the land with menacing peaks. The great mountains that touched the sky. Their large rocky faces and deep valleys were the last major obstacle. She was so close. They were larger than she imagined and stretched far deeper than she wished but she had to press on. Luckily she managed to find a desolate roadway that seemed to cut through. Every few days seemed to get colder. The armour was great for remaining invisible but for keeping her warm it wasn't all that great. She wondered how warm the Crimson Dragoons had been when they has used this exact set up in Alaska. A place said to be much colder than this.

It was a sunny day despite the cool weather. Out of nowhere the sun vanished as deep blue clouds rolled in. The wind began to pick up bringing with it swirls of snow that made visibility zero. There was no telling if she would walk herself right off a cliff. She had no choice but to sit put but the longer she did the more danger she found herself in. The winds were gusting beyond anything she'd ever felt before. She thought at one point she'd be blown off the mountain. The snow was coming down in heaps and piled around her. All she could see was white around her and it was terrifying.

Through the howling wind she thought she heard something. Like a yip sound. A dog perhaps. Sure enough it was drawing closer. She wondered what wildlife inhabited this area.

Suddenly the noise seemed right on top of her as she saw the three dogs run by pulling some kind of contraption and a person. The driver's head spun around when it saw her standing there and ordered the dogs to halt. She stood frozen and scared staring at the fur clad person as it approached her. Goggles covered the face but as they lifted them she noted the man's face.

"Not a good place to be right now," he teased as he offered his hand. "Come on. Let's get you out of here," he said as he motioned to the dog drawn sled. What choice did she have? Either freeze to death out here or trust a stranger. She sat in the sled amongst a heap of supplies as he ordered the dogs onwards. In a few short minutes they arrived at the entrance of a cave. The makeshift wood doors parted allowing them to enter. The dogs stopped and shook themselves to rid their fur of loose snow. He got off the back and helped her out. A few others gathered around seeming startled to see her.

They all seemed dressed in a similar apparel. Light to heavy furs and hides. It was a mix of cultures by the looks of it. Two men stepped by her and heaved the large crates out of the sled. One young woman was glaring directly at her.

"Who the hell is this?" she demanded to know.

"No idea," her rescuer stated as he walked up to the fur clad woman and stood by her side. She linked her arm in his but he walked away taking his arm back.

The Fort Orleans escapee looked at the large group. They stared back at her. The only noise was the bark of the dogs who were receiving their much anticipated dinner.

Finally her rescuer returned carrying a light long hide coat with fur trimming around the hood. He handed it to her and smiled. She graciously accepted and returned the smile but not once did she put her Gauss Rifle on safe or holster it. He removed the heavy coat and threw it over the sled. He lifted the goggles over his shaggy black hair. He was handsome looking – rugged with a slim face and grown in stubble. His eyes were very dark, almost black like his hair. He wasn't overly tall. Maybe about six foot even. He was athletic and toned. Despite the frigid air he dressed down to a black tattered T-Shirt and casual baggy fatigue like pants. She noted the scars along his arms. She'd sen scars like that on the addicts in Orleans. Some looked quite fresh.

"What the hell were you doing out there?" he piped up. Everyone was silent and starring still.

"I, uh ... am heading West," was all she could say as her teeth chattered. His brow raised slightly.

"West huh? So close and set so far," he teased as he motioned for her to walk with him. "This isn't exactly easy travel. These passes are deadly. If an avalanche doesn't claim you a freak storm will. Don't get me started on the Felis," he explained.

She just stared at him baffled with his comments. He lead her deeper into the caves finally emerging in a common area with a large living space all situated round a massive fire. The cave was warm and inviting as was their demeanor.

"My name is Canine," he told her. We go by given names here. Got my name because I love my dogs more than anyone else here," he muttered. "I guess you could say I am the leader too," he added. "What do we call you?" he asked but he raised his hand. "On second thought. I have the perfect name. We'll call you Rush."

She didn't say a word. 'What the fuck,' played through her mind instead.

"Lost my last lead dog about two weeks ago. Her name had been Rush. Best dog I ever had. She was killed saving my ass from a Felis. Seems fitting you take her name. I lose one and I gain another," he told her in a chipper tone.

She dared not go against it. Being named after a dog wasn't the worst thing right now.

"Alright," she mumbled. It wasn't like her old name was really any better. Better to abandon her former self altogether and accept the new. Still, Rush?

She looked past Canine to the approaching female who had gave her the look of death earlier. She placed herself between the two and smiled at the man. She appeared to be a swooning child lusting for the unattainable. Her soft brown hair was swept back behind her ears. She was a shorter girl, quite slim and mouse like but something told her that if she crossed this girl, she'd slit her throat in the night.

"I'm glad you're back early," she began. "You can stay with me tonight if you..."

"Rush, this is Avy. Avy, Rush," Canine interrupted.

Avy didn't say a word to her. She simply smiled but the smile was clearly a warning to stay the fuck away.

"So, are you going to ..." she tried again.

"Not now. Can't you see I am trying to greet our new visitor. Go bother Tracker or Hunter," he snapped which sent her withdrawing to the back of the cave like a punished dog.

"Sorry about that," Canine cleared. "So, what I was going to say was that you're more than welcome to join up with us. Were just a group of survivors trying to live in peace. Most of us were former slaves from The Quarry like Hunter and I. The others just kind of found their way here," he explained. "Just like you."

She didn't really know what to make of the hospitality. Was there something she was missing?

"Don't think me rude but I really should keep going," she tried.

"I wouldn't think you rude. I would call you suicidal. The passes are impossible as winter approaches. You'd die within a day or two. These mountains are not easy to pass even in Summer. You're only chance of making it is to stay here with us and wait for the snow to melt when Spring comes," he informed casually.

"I can't. I really need to be..."

"I'm not kidding, darling. At this time of year the Felis get desperate. They hunt more aggressively cause food is scarce. Storms roll in outta no where and the snow can slide underneath your feet and take you over a cliff. It's not safe,"

What choice did she have? He was probably right. Of all places to end up this was far from the worst.

"Alright," she gave up. If things went sour she could always stealth it and run. In the Spring she would cross the mountains but for now she was at the mercy of Canine and his cave dwellers.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Over the weeks she grew accustomed to life in the cave. When the weather was nice she would scavenge with Avy and four other females: Floral, River and Trick. Avy was still as cold as ever. Turns out she had a thing for Canine from the moment he rescued her from an Avalanche which is where she also got the name Avy.

It was Trick who adopted her as a new best friend. She liked Trick. She was very funny and took nothing seriously. She was younger. Maybe seventeen at the most. Her short spikey black hair, slender face and small frame gave her the appearance of a little pixie. She never made Rush feel like an outsider. Perhaps because she too was a new arrival she knew how it felt. She too didn't like Avy so it gave them both something to joke about when they were alone.

Tracker, Hunter, Teeth and Canine were the men. Tracker and Hunter were the ones who provided the game kills for food while Canine traveled from time to time getting new supplies from nearby villages. It was a network of sustainability it seemed. Each colony provided something and traded it to the neighbours. Theirs seemed in charge of food. Teeth had been wounded a couple years back when he first got here by a Felis. It rendered him pretty much useless outdoors so he tended to cooking and keeping an eye on the stock. No one minded this at all.

The only thing that played at her morals was their use of chems. Everyone seemed hooked on one thing or another. Half of their goods went to their fix. Rush didn't play into that. Nor did she raise a fuss about seeing her findings go into the pool in order to provide chems for the others.

For the most part everyone in the cave was quite pleasant. When Canine was around he enjoyed talking with her. Usually he would talk and she would listen. Trick would tease her about his infatuation with her but Rush dismissed the thought. Avy would skin her and wear her flesh as the latest cave trend if Canine and her ever got too close.

* * *

It was a particularly frigid day when the silence was cut off by screams for aid. It had been too cold to scavenge so everyone apart from Tracker, Hunter and Canine, remained indoors. They had gone out to hunt for a fresh kill. Two fur clad men were dragging the third behind them screaming to get the medical table clear. It was Tracker. The furs he wore were soaked in blood. His blood. As Canine cut away the clothing with his knife, Rush could see the full extent of his wounds.

"What the fuck happened?!" River demanded as she fought back the tears. Tracker had been hers from day one. They were infatuated with one another. Sometimes it made Rush sick but seeing her now was quite doleful.

"Felis attack. Fucker came out of nowhere. Took everything we had to get the creature off him," Canine explained as he saw the wounds bleeding profusely.

"What the hell is a Felis?" Rush asked.

"It's a wild cat like creature. Lost all its hair but kept a nasty attitude. Big too," Hunter explained.

Canine looked to Hunter who seemed to understand the leader's stare. There was nothing they could do to save their friend. No one had this kind of medical treatment. He was already feverish and the bleeding was out of control. That's when Canine went for the gun. Despite Tracker's screams of agony, River's carried through louder. She begged Canine to try. He had to at least try. Hunter tried to assure her that there was nothing any of them could do. Putting him out of this pain was all they could do for him. Tears cascaded down her face. Rush knew death was part of the game but perhaps she could try. She was forced to spend time in the ER with Doc Felm back at Fort Orleans training under him. Haynes made it so. Told her it was good to know medicine.

"Let me try," she spoke up as she moved to Tracker's side as he lay sprawled on the table.

"Rush we should just..." Canine tried but Rush ignored him. His leg and torso were the worst. Deep penetrating bites. She took a deep breath and went to work asking for things as she needed them. She tied a piece of fabric around his leg above the wounds to cut off all circulation and prevent him from bleeding out anymore. It was a descent makeshift tourniquet.

She looked now to his Torso and saw the deep punctures in his chest.

"He's got a tension pneumothorax," she explained. I'll need to perform a needle decompression."

Everyone looked at one another.

She sighed "Get me one of your needles," she demanded. Floral passed her the syringe.

"Air has accumulated in his chest. It's literally squeezing his heart from inside. If it gets worse he'll die for sure," she told them. No one argued.

She removed the plunger and buried the needle into the affected space. There was a slight hiss sound as air escaped. He seemed to be stabilizing almost instantly. She began to suture the wounds and disinfect as she went along. She stopped the rest of the bleeding allowing the tourniquet to be removed. The rest were just minor lacerations that would just need a dressing and antibiotics. They were fortunate to all be junkies for they had pretty much everything here. With a bit of luck and ongoing reassessment he would pull through. When she was finally done she backed away allowing Rivers to be at his side.

"He'll need to rest" was all she said as she began to pack things up and threw all the blood soaked dressings into the fire. Even Avy was stunned at the miracle she performed.

"That was fucking awesome!" Trick exclaimed as she hugged her friend. "Where the hell did you learn all that?!" she asked as she threw herself in front of Rush.

"Let the girl get some rest. She was at it for hours," Canine interrupted. Rush gave him a weak smile. A silent 'thank you' for giving her some needed space. There was still a bit more work to be done. The chems still needed to be separated in their components so she could mix treatments for Tracker. As she sat with the equipment in her lap Canine came and sat beside her.

"Can I help?" he asked as he began to take apart Psycho canisters. She didn't interject. She didn't look up to catch the death stare Avy gave her from across the fire.

"So. Where the hell did you learn all that?" he asked repeating Trick's earlier question. Both of them laughed a bit.

"Back from where I came," she told him refusing to call it home.

"You saved a good man's life today. You should be proud and yet I rarely see you smile," he told her as he stopped taking the chems apart and looked at her now.

"This world doesn't give anyone any reason to smile," she replied.

"What's your story Rush? Where did you come from? All I know about you is that I found you wandering the mountains claiming to be going West. Why?" he asked.

"It's a long story"

"We have all winter," he joked.

"I really don't want to get into it."

"Why? Scared I may tell the dogs?"

"No, I just don't like to think about it."

"None of us do really but I want to be able to help you. I want you to be able to open up with me. You know about my life as a slave in the quarry. It wasn't exactly high times for me," he tried.

"I don't want to compare your hardships with mine. Truth is I didn't really have any until I decided to leave," she told him.

"Family problems?"

"You could say that."

"So why West?"

"It's my only lead. I figure there may be something out there that will make it all better. Anything to make this feeling go away."

"Feeling?"

"Nothing. No feeling. I haven't felt anything other than anger. Couldn't care less about anything else really. To be honest I didn't really care if Tracker died. I just wanted Rivers to shut up. I knew she'd be crying for days if he died," she told him.

Canine laughed.

"Let's just keep everyone believing you're the hero alright?," he told her with a smile.

She smirked and nodded.

"Come with me," he asked as he took her hand in his and pulled her to stand.

"I really should keep an eye on Tracker. I ..."

"He'll be fine. Rivers is at his side," he said as he lead her deeper into the cave. She didn't come down these tunnels. They were narrow and small. It was pitch black and yet Canine seemed to know his way with little effort. Finally they emerged in a small cavern like opening. There was a small opening in the cavern which opened up to the sky. In the center of the cavern was a small fire pit. Canine built it back up and lit it.

"This is where I use to sleep. I didn't like to be around too many people. Over time I just got used to it so now I only stay here once and a while if I need some time to myself," he informed. The only part of that she really pulled apart was this is where he likes to jack it. Maybe that wasn't the case though so she dismissed it from her mind. There were furs lining the bottom which made quite the cozy nest for the two of them to sit.

As they sat beside each other Canine could tell she was uneasy with the situation.

"Why are you nervous?" he called her out.

"I am not," she snapped back.

"You look it."

"I just have a lot on my mind."

"Which is why I brought you here."

She gave him an awkward glance.

"Only on freezing cold nights like this can you see them," he told her.

"See what?" she asked.

He pointed up through the small opening in the cave. The tiny little flickering lights glistened in the sky aided in beauty by the light of the moon. The stars. For the first time in her life she could see them.

"Were high up enough here that we can see them now and then," he told her with a smile.

She couldn't peel her eyes away from the spectacle. For the first time since she could remember she felt her spirits lift slightly.

"Will you try something for me?" he asked.

She looked at him with a questioning look.

He held out the small flask.

"What is this?" she asked.

"I call it Magic Voodoo. My own remedy for taking away troubles."

She eyed the flask but put it back in his hand.

"You know I don't touch this stuff," she explained but he passed her the flask once again.

"Just once. Try it. I won't ever ask again. Here watch." He took a large swig and drank it down. "See?"

She played with the doubt in her mind but in the end she finally accepted the flask and took a small sip. She coughed and gag a little.

"Ugh! It's awful!" she remarked.

"Lame!" he teased.

She shot him a cold glare and took a second large swig. He seemed pleased as he too took a final drink and put the flask away. He didn't say anything for a minute or two. He lay back on the fur and rested his head on his arms as he lay on his back.

She remained seated looking into the fire. It danced in place painting its light on the rocks surrounding them. The light seemed to enter her body and rise out of the cave. She watched as sparks were absorbed into her skin. Her eyes were wide watching the phenomenon.

"Do you see this?" she asked looking to Canine who now had his eyes shut.

"Pretty neat huh?"

"What is this?"

"I told you. Just a way to mellow out"

Now the rocks in the cave seemed to be glowing their own colours. The stars above them formed tiny smiles in the sky. Rush couldn't believe what she was seeing. Her breathing increased. She felt out of it entirely when a hand rested on hers. She looked to see Canine sitting up beside her. He reached over and touched her face. It was a little uncomfortable having his face so close. She could see the hot air leaving his mouth with each deep exhale.

He brought his mouth to hers and kissed her softly. She was ashamed to think this was her first kiss. Damn, she sure had waited a long time. His lips parted hers as his tongue slipped slowly into her mouth and gently grazed her own. His hand caressed her cheek while the other supported his weight. She closed her eyes meeting his embrace. She could feel her heart beat. It felt as though it would leap from her chest and yet her skin contained it.

Everything was heightened. She could smell the minerals in the cave. His breath as he pulled away for a mere second. The sweat that collected on his skin. Every soft caress of his tongue sent her skin into spasm she couldn't place. It was like someone had her hooked to a battery and zapped her every few seconds.

Canine knew he had to take things slow. This was her first time on this and he wanted her to enjoy herself as much as he was. Truth was from the moment he saw her standing in the snow she captivated him. The random figure dressed in an odd armour out wandering alone. Everything about her was an interest. It drove him crazy that he knew so little about her and yet he loved it at the same time. He fantasized about this moment nearly every night. Even when he felt Avy's hands on his skin he wished she was Rush.

He pulled her down so they lay side by side. They starred at one another for a moment. None of this felt real and yet it was the most real she ever felt. It was surreal and yet sublime all at the same time.

She closed her eyes as he kissed her once again. His hands met with hers at their side and their fingers coiled into one another's. Her fingers felt like they could feel energy coursing through them. She pulled away and looked at her hand. He smiled as he took it in his once again and brought the limb to his mouth. He kissed each one of her fingers. Her smile grew as he did this. She laughed slightly as the new sensation kicked in. When he was done he placed his fingertips to hers. She could see their energy flowing through the connection.

"This is crazy," she murmured.

Canine laughed.

"I am glad you're enjoying yourself," he told her as he moved from beside her so he now lay on top of her. She giggled feeling his weight on her. She thought at any moment he would melt into her and yet he remained in place. He lowered himself to kiss her once again. She warmly accepted his mouth on hers as she squirmed beneath him. It was so much to take in. He took her hands and placed them over her head. He ran his fingers down her arms and across her neck. Ever so slowly he moved down and took hold of the bottom of her shirt. He pulled it over her head exposing stomach and the black fabric that held her breasts.

Through the fabric he let his hand slide over her perfectly developed tits. Soft fleshy breasts with small hard pink nipples perking up to be touched. He gently squeezed and tugged letting her moans dictate every action to follow. Her eyes were firmly shut as she moved and cooed with each subtle embrace. He lifted his own shirt over his head and pressed his chest to hers while his mouth found her neck and placed a kiss on every orifice. His hands traced down her ribs. She giggled at the tickling sensation as her knees lifted trying not to spasm. No part exposed was untouched by his mouth and tongue. He nibbled on her ears and licked across her bottom lip. He kissed down the center of her chest all the way down before stopping at her waistline.

She didn't protest when he pulled off the buckskin pants she wore. Now she lay in nearly full view for him. Apart from the small black panties and the fabric that pressed her breasts into her chest that is. He worked his way from her foot to her tummy alternating between kisses, nips and licking. Everything sent her into a spasm of sensation. Finally he released her breasts and took each one in his grasp firmly. She moaned as he squeezed and flicked her hard nipples playfully with the tip of his tongue. When he sucked on them she groaned and dug her hands into his shoulders.

He was loving how she got into it. He loved watching her twitch with every new touch to her skin. She loved it. Never before had she felt anything like this. She didn't know what to make of it. Sexual education skipped her ears back in the fort. Haynes forbid her from any kind of instruction. Now she was fully immersed in a full out lesson. It felt as though her body was on fire. Every time he touched her it numbed the area from the intense heat. It was absolutely amazing.

Now it was time to have her. Canine's attention turned to a more direct focus as he pulled himself down between her legs. The heat in his breath warmed her inner thighs and she shivered for a moment. He gently placed his index finger on the triangular piece of fabric she wore as panties. Between her feminine folds he could feel her getting more wet with each passing second. His finger pressed a little harder against her slit and she convulsed in arousal. His smirk grew seeing how each touch pushed her in all different directions. She would groan, squirm and grind into his hand.

There came a point when he could no longer watch her quake. He wanted her more than he wanted anything in his entire life. He wanted to taste everything about her. He wanted to feel her heat on his sex. He wanted to take her in every possible way he could.

He climbed back on top of her and kissed her neck. Slowly he moved up to her ear and nipped at it gently.

"Can I?" he asked hinting to his utmost desire letting his hand describe it all for him. He was tugging at the fabric panties with his finger.

Her eyes opened slowly and gazed up at him. His eyes were locked on her and the smile vanished as he awaited her answer.

"I haven't ... you know ..." she began.

His brow arched. He didn't understand.

"It's been awhile?" he asked.

"If by awhile you mean never," she corrected.

She could have sworn she saw him salivate a little. He kissed her mouth softly before he spoke again.

"I'll be gentle. I promise," he assured.

With that she gave a slight nod. Never before had she seen some one so excited. He was like a kid in a candy store who just got told everything is free. He slid the damp piece of fabric off her long silky legs and placed it on the ground nearby. He slid his own pants off and just about kicked them away.

The wetness of her sex was begging for stimulation. He traced a finger through her waiting cunny feeling the warm wet silk on his skin. She was more than ready for him. Her took his weight on one arm as he took hold of his swollen cock. The hot tender caress of her wet pussy tingled the tip of his cock as it slid around her entrance.

She bit her bottom limp anticipating the movement to come. He caught her eye and smile.

"It's ok" he promised as he leaned down and kissed her. While he held her mouth in his, he plunged himself deep within her. He could feel her body give way to him. She violently tried to sit up but his weight kept her in place. Her eyes shut hard taking in the brutal sensation. Everything inside of her felt like it was on fire. It was such a mix. She wanted to beg him to release her and yet she didn't want him to stop. She tried to cry out but his mouth muffled her cries though he could feel her vocal chords trying to emit a sound.

He pulled his lips away and moved some hair out of her face while gently cooing,

"Ssssh."

When every muscle in her body relaxed he slowly began to withdraw himself. She winced when he pushed in deeper once more. Ever so slowly he moved in and out of her. His own groans soon overtook hers. She was the tightest thing he ever felt. Her hot sex wrapped him within its hold. As she grew more accustom to his size he picked up the pace. He would go in deeper and moved faster. Her little yelps were soon replaced with deep powerful moans and calls out to God.

The mix of sex and drugs was something she had missed out on for too long. As he fucked her harder and harder she felt as though her body was giving way to something greater. Everything was so spontaneous and intense. Her legs wrapped around his waist while her hands were free to explore his skin. She noted that when she clawed into his back he would groan and his thrusts became more deep an vigorous. When she slowly caressed his rib cage he would kiss her and move slowly.

"Babe, I can't hold out much longer. I am going to cum," he said as he felt the swelling come from deep within.

"Make me cum too," she begged as she grinned into his hips.

The smile on his face grew as he placed a finger on the small little nub between her folds. As he touched it her body was wretched into a short second spasm.

"Oh God, yes!" she called out as he flicked and rubbed it with each forceful thrust.

"You're going to make me cum. You're so close!" she told him feeling his touch take control of her body.

"You love my cock don't you?" he mocked.

"Yes!"

"You love me fucking you don't you?"

"Yeees!"

"You want me to full you with everything I have?"

"Oooooooooh yeeeees!" she screamed as her body was jolted with an electrifying spasm that shook her from head to toe. Every muscle felt as though it was contracting. Her heart was racing, pounding against her chest. Her eyes rolled back a little and her mouth gaped open. As the orgasm took control of her body, Canine felt himself let go. His seed filled her body with its subtle heat. His head tossed back as he flexed his abs. He froze in place feeling each release in conjunction with his pulse.

As if stuck in time they remained in place an unmoving. Only when his flesh began to soften did he release himself from her body. A small white trail of himself followed.

He moaned feeling his body used up entirely. He collapsed in a heap beside her. He pulled her into him feeling her stomach rise and fall with short rapid bursts as she tried to catch her breath. They both giggled and entwined their fingers once again. He kissed her forehead.

"Was that ok?" he asked.

She couldn't bring herself to even utter a single word. A smile and the slightest nod was good enough for him as he shut his eyes holding her tight. She closed hers as well seeing the waves of colours dance in her mind. She could definitely get used to this.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

It all became a blur of time. What seemed like days had been weeks which in turn had been months. The cavers had made it well into spring. The snow had melted from most of the trees. Only the highest mountains in the range still carried snow on their caps. The streams rushed with water which in turn filled the lakes well beyond their usual capacity.

"Wake up you two the suns been up for hours! Canine, you and Hunter were suppose to leave at dawn," Floral's voice called down the to the pair nestled in the furs in the small nook they made their own. Canine groaned as he sat up rubbing the sleep from his blackened eyes. There came a soft giggle from the cocoon of furs. He looked down at the pair of pale green eyes looking up at him. He smiled down at her and kissed her gently.

"I gotta go," he told her as he lifted Rush's chin and kissed her once more.

"No... We don't have to eat. Stay here. I got something you can eat," she teased as she clawed lightly at his exposed skin. He groaned once again as he felt her flesh on his.

"Don't move from this spot until I get back. Don't even bother putting clothes on," he told her as she squirmed out of the covers and began to dress. He stumbled out of the back cave and disappeared out of sight.

This was going to be a boring day but - it didn't have to be. She looked around at all the empty flasks scattered around the floor of the cave. She looked into each one to see if there was anything left in any of them. She grimaced only collecting a few drops of the magical concoction. Even the liquor bottles were empty. Fuck the hunt, they needed more liquid fuel. Her eyes brightened as she thought about the case of beer they stashed deep in the caves to keep cold. Sure enough she staggered across the jagged rocks. When she finally reached the 24 pack she hadn't even noticed that her hands and knees were bleeding from the trek. She returned to the safety of the furs and nestled in with a cold beer in her hands.

"Rush! You want something to eat?" Floral's voice interrupted once again.

"Fuck off!" she snapped back.

Floral moved away from the back cave entrance. She looked to Trick and Rivers who seemed to share the other girl's concern. Over time they watched their new friend fall so quickly. The cavers had their fixes, that was true but none were as bad as Rush and Canine at the moment. They seemed to spend more time in the back cave fucking then they did doing anything else combined.

Avy hadn't spoken more than single word answers to either of them since Canine utterly shot her down the day after he and Rush got it on for the first time. She took to sulking around the cave most of the day or scavenging on her own in silence.

Rush no longer scavenged with the group. They all felt she was needed most of all for her medical skills and therefore remained in the cave with Teeth. He'd cook and she'd be making various medical supplies if she wasn't too stoned that day.

Still, Trick, Rivers and Floral kept quiet. They liked Rush but they knew their friend would be in trouble sooner than later.

Back in her nest Rush had already devoured her eighth beer when she heard Canine and Hunter return from their outing. Immediately he returned to her seeing her with the case of beer.

"I forgot all about that one!" he chuckled as he dived back into the furs with her. She handed him a beer and took another for herself. It didn't take him long to catch up with her. When they got through the entire case neither seemed content with just the drunken stupor.

"Did you make any more?" Rush asked in a desperate manner.

"What? Oh you mean this?" he asked as he pulled another flask from his pocket and smile devilishly.

"Come on baby please. Don't make me wait. I need it," she pleaded as she looked passed him focused only on the flask.

"Now what are you...Geez babe what did you do to yourself?" he suddenly turned his attention seeing the deep cuts on her hands and knees.

She looked at herself and shrugged. Canine shook his head but laughed it all off.

"Now, like I was saying. What are you willing to do for it?" he asked.

"Don't be a jerk! Come on," she said reaching for it but he held it away. He began to remove his clothes and let her lie beneath him. Slowly he opened the flask and titled her head back. She closed her eyes and laughed as he slowly poured some of it down her mouth. He let it spill down her naked chest and stomach. He bent down and licked the contents from her skin. She giggled feeling his tongue run down her. He took another swig offering her the bottle. She too took a big gulp before devouring his mouth so she could taste what remained on his tongue.

The Magic Voodoo made everything that much better. When he was inside her she felt like he was a part of her. Like nothing mattered but how they lusted for one another. She wanted nothing else but him and her fix. When they finally relaxed he gazed deeply into her. Mixed with the mess of their sweat and the abstracts of their love he made his request.

"Stay with me forever," he asked her as he slowly shut his eyes.

"Yes," she replied as hers shut as well.

* * *

_Her screams cut through the kitchen as the hand took hold of her wrist. She no longer felt her feet on the floor instead, she lay on the kitchen table flat on her back. She gazed up at the black eyes staring down at her. She screamed but a black hand covered her mouth and muffled her cries. The two armoured men placed themselves around her. She felt frozen with fear. Even as they released her she couldn't move. They stood back and watched her for a moment. Her eyes focused on them. She couldn't bring herself to blink. _

_Finally one of the men in black armour came towards her and held her arms down while he positioned himself between her legs. She kicked and screamed frantically trying to get away. The harder she fought the harder he held her until finally she felt her hand break away and grab the first object she could. She didn't know what it was but she struck at them violently with it, bashing him over his helmet again and again. He cowered as she struck until she heard him call her by her given name, begging her to stop. _

* * *

Her eyes shot open. The limp body of Canine lay beside her in a bloody mess of bone and gore. She tried to breath but nothing exhaled from her lungs. She looked in horror as she held the rock firmly in her hand. The moon reflected the surface of the rock which glistened with the metallic stain that covered it. She dropped the rock and screamed louder than ever before. Before she could draw a second breath she felt big arms wrap around her and pull her away. She kicked and screamed slashing with her hands at whoever bound her. Their voice was drowned out by her frantic cries.

"RUSH! RUSH, stop it's me! Snap out of it!" Hunter's voice tried to reason with her as he dragged her out of the back cave. Floral and Avy were on the scene next. Avy screamed when she saw the mess in the furs. Canine's pulverized body still twitched. She hurled herself into the arms of Floral who embraced the young girl. Trick was trying to help Hunter subdue Rush on the floor in the main cavern. Finally, after a few minutes they managed to get a narcotic antagonist into the struggling girl. She began to come back to reality and recognize her friends.

"What ... what the hell...happened?" she asked between sobs and hyperventilation. She was shaking uncontrollably. A mix of the drugs and panic took over.

"You tell us," Trick asked as she held her friend.

"I'm going to fucking kill her!" Avy snapped as she came at Rush but Floral held her.

"Get her out of here!" Hunter ordered to Floral who dragged the inconsolable Avy out of the cave.

"Teeth and Tracker. Do something about that in there please," Hunter asked. Tracker looked to Rush. He owed the girl his life. Now he didn't know who or what she had become. Silently the two men went back into the back cave and began to clean up the mess that had once been their friend. Rivers decided to join them.

Rush had stopped crying but the shaking was worse than ever. When Tracker, Teeth and Rivers all carried Canine's body through and out of the cave she could see what she had done. For the first time in her life she was crying. It didn't even feel like her. She felt so detached that she didn't know who she was.

When she finally had some control over herself the questions arose. Everyone wanted to know what had happened. The lack of answers she could provide them all drew to the same conclusion. That was a very bad trip. Still, to be so violent was shocking even to them.

In the back of her head, Rush could only think of one thing. Going West. She knew what it all meant. This is what she got for forgetting what she had to do. She was willing to stay here with Canine and never uncover anything. That was her mind getting her to wake up from her dream in a brutal way.

"I have to go," she told them suddenly.

"No, Rush you need to relax and ..." Trick tried.

"No! I have to leave right now! I can't stay here!" she shouted back and forced herself from Trick's arms.

Trick looked to Hunter for some kind of help but he shook his head.

Rush staggered over to the foot locker where all her stuff had been placed the day she arrived her. She gathered her belongings: the Stealth Armour, and the Gauss Rifle, then stumbled her way out of the cave. She just had to get away. Even if she was going in the wrong direction she didn't care. She had to get far enough away so she couldn't find her way back. She didn't know how long she walked for. The sun rose over time. She had been going deeper into the mountains, that much was certain but as the run rose she was able to get her bearings.

West. Just keep moving West.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Notes: _Thanks to everyone reading this especially Gixxer who really takes the time to read each chapter and write such great reviews. I finished off chapters 8 and9 long before I finished 7 hence why they are up so quickly. I plan on really working out Chapter 10 this weekend. So here is Chapter 10. I love how this chapter ends.  
_

**Chapter 9**

Her nose scrunched and her bottom lip curled back over her teeth. The small knife pierced into the small patch of white flesh. The small slice oozed with milky infection until the blister was nothing but its fold of excess skin. It had been days of straight walking. She didn't dare close her eyes anymore. Every time she did she saw so many faces. She couldn't drown out their accusations and torment. Rather then subject herself to their cruel words she chose to keep moving. So long as she was moving, they couldn't bother her.

By the fifth day in the mountains things took a drastic turn for the worst. It was the warmest day yet in late spring when she was ascending up a rock face when she lost her footing and fell.

When her eyes finally opened the first thing that was different was the time of day. The sun had long since set and now the moon hung high in the night sky. She sat up slowly examining her body for any physical trauma and yet nothing appeared broken or out of place. Relieved she went to stand raising her arm into the air for balance. Something cold and metal took that hand and pulled her to her feet. Startled she quickly turned to see what held her.

He was covered in a heavy black armour. His hair, cut short and dark brown. Cold gray eyes stared at her - through her - and burning their stare right to her soul. The square jaw and vacant expression of a typical soldier. He was cleanly shaven apart from the small cut on his chin where he must have nicked himself.

She felt as though someone took her heart in their hand and squeezed it as hard as they could preventing it from beating. She couldn't will herself to breath. The air stung her eyes as she refused to blink. She wasn't looking at a stranger. She was looking into the face of her self proclaimed father, Haynes.

Everything was a mix of emotion. She wasn't sure what to make of him standing there.

"I finally caught up to you," he told her with a solemn expression.

At first she said nothing even as he held her hand in his. He pulled her to a large uprooted tree and sat indicating he wished her to sit as well. She hesitated for a moment. What was he doing here? How could he have possibly found her?

"What are you doing here?" she said in a voice barely above a whisper.

"I came to find you. To bring you home," he told her with sympathy written all over his face.

"I am not coming back. I am not going anywhere with you," she retorted back at him.

"I kept you safe all those years from this. You were happy with me. I sheltered you from that past. Your life would have been snuffed the day those bombs fell."

"You don't know that. You slaughtered my real parents and took me out of guilt. Your perspective towards human life is take what you want to better yourself then dispose of the rest like waste."

"At first maybe that was the case but you became so much more to me. You became my daughter. All I wanted for you was the best I could provide. I didn't want you to dwell on the events that brought you to me."

"I did not come to you. You took me," she corrected.

"It doesn't matter now. Please? Can we not put this behind us? Have I not been a good father? Have I done you wrong before?"

She thought about that deeply. Not once while she remained blissfully ignorant to her past did she ever question his love for her. He had been a good father. A great one. He provided everything a young girl needed but as she thought about it more, the more it angered her. It wasn't his responsibility. Her real father never had a chance to before his brains painted the streets in the Canadian city.

She picked herself up off the tree and looked back at him.

"I am going home," she informed.

His expression turned from sincere to hostile as he stood suddenly glaring at her wildly. She took a step back feeling panic overcome her. Never before had Haynes looked at her like he did now. Before she could react he struck her across the face with the massive metal hand he clenched tightly into a fist. She went down hard feeling the world spin violently. When she hit the ground it all went dark instantly.

* * *

Her head throbbed as she opened her eyes ever so slowly. The sun warmed her face but it was far from comforting. Her head ached terribly and red stained the nearby rocks with her blood. She gazed up at the rock face she had been climbing before she had fallen. Her eyes flashed in all directions for any sign of Haynes but he was nowhere to be found. Had any of it been real? It felt so real. It had to be.

She knew she had to press on no matter how much it felt like her head was imploding. Stood on shaky feet as the scenery around her danced. She closed her eyes as her stomach heaved in protest. She held the rock face as she spilled her stomach's contents at her feet. For the first time she wanted to sleep. Even if the voices called out to her she just wanted to rest for a day or two. For the first time reason played in her head.

Can't sleep. You're head hurts. Don't sleep. Keep moving.

She didn't know what pushed her on. She had no energy left and yet she placed one aching foot in front of the other and moved in a direction. When the sun set she noted the faint light coming from ahead. It was too late for the sun to cast its last rays, something else was guiding her. She emerged through the bare trees seeing the immensely lit city. It was stunningly beautiful. It was definitely ruins but never before had she seen a sight like this. The waters beyond the lights blanketed the Earth as far as the eye could see. She had to be here. This had to be it. Nearly a full year and she was finally here.

Whatever pain grasped her disappeared as she numbed herself in satisfaction and triumph. Sure enough as she put herself on a torn up road she made out the destination sign "Vancouver" indicating she was just a few short kilometres away.

She powered on the suit once again and walked the road toward the city. Now that she was here she didn't know what to do. All she had was a picture to go by and surely things would look different now than they had before the war. She picked the crumpled up photo from her pocket and looked at it. She starred down at the man on his knees. She didn't glance to the soldier behind him pointing the gun. This was all she had to go on. In the background was an unusual building. The stone head face on the corner was her best clue. She starred at the picture for anything other clues she could pick up. Over her journey she had come to study this image for hours. It was painted on her brain but she still clung to the idea that maybe she'd see something else.

It was the dead of night when she finally reached the outskirts of the city. She remained unchallenged and undetected but perhaps that was due to the fact that no one was out. Everything was bitterly silent. Not even a dog bark. She knew it was an awkward time but something just didn't sit well with her. She wandered the city street to street being sure not to repeat an area twice. So far nothing looked as her picture displayed. She hoped that when the run rose the city would come back to life again and she could get some help but when the time finally came, no one was out on the streets. This was all very strange.

There came a faint rumbling sound from off in the distance. Slowly it got louder and louder until the source made itself known. A massive truck tore down the wide lane. It was a deep forest green with large black off road tires. It was long with a canvas cover protecting the occupants inside. As it came towards her it appeared more like a charging bull with the massive front brush guard and the animal skull tied to it.

Never in her life had she seen such a machine. Sure there were pictures but this was up close and personal. It screeched to a halt some hundred feet away. Two uniform clad men jumped out from the cab. Their uniforms were olive drab for the most part speckled with gray squares in an irregular pattern. They wore heavy frag vests and both carried a small side arm on their drop leg. Their faces were covered by dark tinted ballistic eyewear and their helmets protected their heads. Upon the Velcro of their shoulder patch was a large capital E with stars circling it.

Instantly her mind drew the conclusion that they were the Enclave. Of course that just raised more questions. What was the Enclave doing here in Canada?

The two soldiers moved to the back of the truck and opened the rear tailgate. People began to step out of the truck. Mostly men but some women and older children – civilians. This was all very strange. They all looked exhausts and drained. Most were covered in grime and dirt. Their clothes were tattered and worn to the last thread. Their hollow sunken eyes carried an abundance of sadness and defeat.

The soldier closed up the tailgate, got back in their truck and disappeared around a corner. The passengers all staggered like wasted Brahmin being lead to the slaughter. Each small group entered a home and shut the door behind them.

The young woman watched in silence and confusion as this repeated throughout the neighbourhood. What was all this? Who were these people? When another truck pulled up, dropped off the next wave of inhabitants and drove off she felt bold enough to casually reveal herself at the last moment to a woman as she entered her home.

Seeing the strange girl appear from thin air just about gave the older woman a heart attack.

"Jeezus child you trying to kill me?!" the woman scolded eying the rather emaciated girl carefully.

"Easy now, I am not here to hurt you. Can you just look at this picture and tell me where this is?" the girl from For Orleans asked.

The older woman looked beyond her and out in the street.

"Make it quick," she ordered as she looked to the picture. "My word. I haven't seen this image in years. That brings back bad days," she spoke as she looked up at the younger girl. "Just 15 minutes walk from here. Go down that street then take your third left. You'll come to that corner eventually," she instructed before slamming her door closed.

Her heart beat quickened with each passing step. She was finally nearing the place where it happened. The very place her father was executed. Sure enough the direction lead her to a street corner where the large stone head remained intact on a building that was in far worse shape than the picture. She took a deep breath and look to the picture. She placed herself in relative position to where her father knelt. She looked down at the very pavement where he had been shot in cold blood. If emotion was going to overcome here, now would have been the time but she felt nothing. She stared out to the vacant streets and dull gray sky. Why had she come here? What had she hoped to gain? She took to her knees as he had. This patch of broken pavement was the last thing he saw before they blew his brains out.

"Child?" a woman's voice suddenly rang through the silence. She was startled to hear this. Her head spun to see the soft pale blue eyes of an old woman. Her hair was thinning, a silvery gray with dark wisps on her bangs. The woman moved very slowly as age took its toll.

"What are you doing out here? It isn't safe. Come on," the old woman instructed as she took the girls hand and lead her inside the damp cold home. Everything was pre-war. The knitted seat covers, the pictures of what she could only assume was family and cats. The fire place was full of cobs webs. More cob webs hung in every corner. It was a dreary place apart from a small lamp that filled the living room with a faint warm yellow glow.

The old woman sat in a rather large green chair and stared at her.

"Now tell me. What were you ..." her words were suddenly cut short when she noticed the picture in the girls hand. Suddenly the stare became very focused.

"No, it can't be" the old woman began to move towards her. She placed both hands on the girls face and peered into her eyes.

The young girl knew this look. The old woman was remembering something and it had something to do with her.

"So many years. I thought you were dead..." she spoke ever so softly as she let herself slip back into the chair. "My dear child. What happened to you?"

"You ... know me?" she asked as she felt a tingle trace down her spine.

"I suppose you were too young to remember me but I could not forget you. You look just like your mother and yet I see your father in you" she spoke.

This was very overwhelming. This woman perhaps wasn't as senile as she first though. She went on.

"I was there. I remember that day like it was yesterday. I wish I could forget it. I wept when I saw those men kill your father. I would have rushed over to help your mother but they would have shot me purely on sight alone. Then I knew when they entered the home and the shot rang out that they had killed her too but I never heard another shot after that. When those soldiers left your home I was so afraid that that had hurt you. Such a sweet young child you were. It took me a few days to build up the nerve to enter your home. It wasn't what I expected. Other than the smell nothing was out of place. It was clean and tidy. Your parents lay on their bed but you ... I couldn't find you anywhere," she explained. "A few neighbours and I buried your parents in your backyard beneath the large maple that use to grow there. I prayed for you every night. We kept a watch out just in case you came back but ... you never did. Not until now."

Every word sunk deep within her. This woman knew it all. She had seen most of it play out.

"You'd come over and want to see my dogs. You loved animals. Always so polite. Of course, with parents like yours you'd expect that. When they were out doing their work I would come over or you'd come here and spend the day with me. You could read by then. So smart," the woman told her.

"I ... I didn't know all this," the girl said trying to fathom it all. "I didn't remember a thing until about a year ago," she told the old woman.

"Dear girl, where have you been?" the old woman asked.

The girl tried to look the old woman in the face but she couldn't she couldn't tell her that she had spent 14 long years with the man responsible for killing her parents.

"Can we go there? Can we see the house?" the girl asked.

The old woman's face strained. When she saw how much it meant of course she caved.

"We have to be careful. Curfew will be in effect. If we are caught they will arrest us," the old woman said.

None of that had any effect on her decision. Together they hurried across the street. The old woman lead her to the big solid wood front door of the two story home.

"Hurry now, inside!" the old woman directed pushing the door open and entering the home.

The young girl paused for a moment. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath then followed. Everything was just like her dream. The stairs were down the main hallway. The small kitchen was to their right with a dining set still in place. It had been ransacked but for the most part everything was intact.

"I tried to leave it as best I could. To honour you family," the old woman explained.

"Th...thank you," was the only response she could utter.

She stood in the doorway of the kitchen. The place where she stood when she saw her mother cry out for anything to save her before her life was taken before her eyes. Slowly she walked upstairs and entered the master bedroom. The bodies were gone as the old woman said. There was a familiar smell about the house despite the vacancy over the long years. Without hesitation she moved to the last bedroom down the hall. The one painted bright green with dinosaurs painted in the back wall. She entered the small room and looked at the small array of items left behind.

Her mom had painted the dinosaurs. She loved them so much. Her mom spent days doing it. The giant T-Rex had been her favourite. She pressed her hand to the paint. A place where her mom once stood and smiled down at her. She would play with her toys on the floor occasionally trying to put her hand in the pallet. Her mom would scoop her up and give her the paint brush to try a couple strokes.

Her heart leap up into her throat when she saw two toys on the dresser. A stuffed dog and a black knight on a white horse. She picked the two items up and starred at them for a long moment. Just like in her dream. It had all been real. Down to the last detail. The floor creaked and the old woman stood in the doorway.

"Show me the graves," the young girl asked.

The old woman smiled and nodded leading her out the back door through the kitchen and into the backyard. The lawn was patchy with dead grass and sand but sure enough the two graves stuck out. Lined with small stones and marked with two large rocks her parents lay beneath the layers of charred soil.

She knelt by their graves taking in the mixed emotions. She was relieved to finally be here and yet she was angry that this is what she came home to. A long silence followed. The old woman stood behind her just in case she needed someone to hold her.

"What had been their names?" the girl asked.

The old woman didn't have to think about it.

"Geoff and Annie," she told the young girl.

There was another long pause.

"What was my name?"

The woman looked surprised but once again she delivered without any thought.

"They called you, Lisi."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Back in the old woman's house, Lisi had taken her place at the small table within the dimly lit kitchen. The old woman, Abbey, as she introduced herself was preparing a meal for the two of them as evening fast approached.

"Why were they shot?" Lisi asked. The first words spoken out of her mouth since she had discovered her true name.

Abbey looked over her shoulder as she placed the raw mystery meat into the stove. The girl had the right to know everything the old woman possessed. That didn't mean telling the story was easy for her.

"To know why they died is to fully understand how our country was back then," she began. "Canadians were always revered as polite, kind and hospitable people. That didn't mean we liked being walked on. When the war with China broke out and Alaska was captured the Americans at first asked if they could use Canada as their central hub for their assault. Canada refused."

Lisi did not cut in. She simply leaned over the table a little as she pictured in her mind what was being told.

"You see, we knew what this would all lead to. One of Canada's provinces, Alberta had been a very desirable piece of land due to its vast array of nearly untouched resources. Given the desperate needs for these resources it was a very likely the American's had a secret agenda to fight their war and claim Canada for itself. Sure enough, it all played out like clockwork."

"So eventually Canada caved under pressure and the Enclave took control?" Lisi questioned.

"Exactly. Of course right through it all there were those who refused to sit back and watch as our ideologies and culture were stepped on. Canada was not very different from our southern neighbours but we still had our own reputation to maintain. Your father well, he stood up to the Enclave at first entirely on his own. Right from the beginning he voiced his concerns about what was happening all around us. What was to come. We thought he was just paranoid..."

Lisi arched her brow.

"...But as time went on everything he predicted came to be the truth. With your mother supporting him every step of the way he formed a militia to try to disrupt Enclave operations. At first it was all petty but the more the Enclave tread on the Canadian people, the more violent things became. I think your mother began to worry for the family's safety quite early on. Your father painted a target on you all but he did it to try to create a better world for children like you to be brought up in."

"So they assassinated him?" Lisi asked.

"I suppose so. As your father began to really put a dent on the Enclave's presence here they must have decided it was time to seek him out. That's when the two soldiers showed up on your doorstep," Abbey explained.

"How did everyone feel about my parents and what they were trying to do?" Lisi asked.

"They were heroes to us all. When they died no one else opposed the Enclave. It really shook up the entire city."

"So they died for nothing?"

"Well, no," Abbey tried but it was clear to Lisi that her parents work had been in vain and things regressed quite quickly.

Lisi decided it was time for a more pressing matter.

"I saw people being off loaded in Enclave trucks. What is all that about?" she asked.

Abbey looked to the girl with a painful glance.

"It's what the West has become. Every morning at sunrise the capable are picked up at homes and taken to the factories to work. Some are machining shops while others build an assemble Enclave materials. All men women and children," Abbey told her as tears welled in her sunken eyes. "This war has taken something from everyone."

Lisi didn't a word as she saw the woman trying to collect herself clearly struggling with her own nightmares.

The information that passed through her today had been a lot to take in and process. She now understood why no one suggested she travel out here. What was even more clear was that no one could really escape this place. Their only option to get away was to brave the mountains she had crossed and nearly died on herself.

After a long and drawn out silence Lisi finally mustered up another line of questioning.

"Why have the people not taken back the city?" she asked.

"My dear, we are tired. We don't have any equipment to stage any kind of assault against the Enclave. There is a curfew and anyone caught out on the streets is arrested. Sometimes they don't come back. When you have those things weighing on your mind, revolt just doesn't seem possible," Abbey explained suppressed and fatigued.

"Where is the Enclave base?"

"Near the water. They have taken over the island and some of the main land."

With that Lisi stood from her seat.

"Forgive me but I have to be off. I will return later perhaps, if you do not mind," she asked with a cold stern look upon her face.

Abbey stared at the girl wide-eyed as if she knew what she had on her mind all along.

"My dear you can't possibly go out there at this time. If they see you who knows what ..." she tried.

"They won't see me," Lisi explained as she powered on the suit.

Abbey gasped and just about knocked over a pot on the stove. She hadn't seen this technology in over a decade.

"I will be fine," Lisi assured her though it dawned in the back of her mind that she was lying to the woman. She had no idea what to expect venturing out there but she had to see it all for herself.

"Please be careful," Abbey pleaded soulfully.

Lisi left silently through the front door. From across the street she could see her home and decided to pay her last respects if this was the last time she'd ever see it. She moved across the street and up the narrow steps to the front door. She made sure no one was around to see her before she entered the home.

It was pitch black inside. Only the soft dim light of the outside street lamps lit up a few desolate rooms. As she moved towards through the house she picked up on how eerie it was just being here. She felt as though if she said anything, someone was listening to her.

She'd pay one last respect and be off.

Lisi headed towards the kitchen towards the back door. As she turned into the room she threw herself against the back wall in alarm. The armour clad man sat at the dining room table glaring at her with a vacant stare.

"Hello sweetie," Haynes cooed sitting in his place and not moving an inch. He looked as he had when she came across him back in the mountains.

"What are you doing here?" she snapped aggressively.

"I don't like it when we fight. I am sorry for hitting you earlier but you really pissed me off," he muttered in a simple tone.

"No, you're not really here. Just go away. I came here to see my real parents," she insulted.

"Real parents? You mean the ones who put their cause before the safety of their own daughter?" he mocked right back.

"They did what they felt was right for the good of the people here!"

"They were extremists who violently took on the Enclave and their own government at the cost of lives on both sides!"

"And your hands are so clean?!"

"I do not pretend like things never happened but at least I tried to make amends for it!"

"Get out of my house!"

"You think you can change what has happened here? You think that you can take revenge on the Enclave for what happened to your parents? You're about to go out there and get yourself killed!"

"You think I am afraid to die? What do I have to live for, huh? What is so great about my life?! My real parents were killed. Their killer raised me as his own child. I lived in ignorance my entire life and now I am in some God forsaken place talking to the culprit himself!" she hollered.

Haynes didn't reply for a while.

"You want to go down this path? Fine. Give it a shot," he mumbled. "Don't think like you're above me, yourself. You have just as much blood on you hands as I do," he concluded as he stood from the chair and walked past her. When she turned around to discuss him again, he was gone.

Good.

She opened the door and walked into the backyard where the two graves lay. Was Haynes right? Could they have loved her that much to put everything else before her well-being? Were they the heroes Abbey made them out to be or were they radicals trying to disrupt government process? Despite what they were or weren't she looked upon the graves and saw them as they were. They were her parents and whatever ideals they thought to be right, she felt she had to see for herself. Just how bad was it all?

She knew the only way she could see it was to get right in the middle of it. What better way than get arrested?

With one final goodbye she left the grave site and powered off the suit. She stashed the rifle and suit away in a drawer in her old upstairs bedroom. She would have to come back for it all when she got out – if she got out.

One thing was certain. She had to make her display big. Big enough to get the attention of the people. Make it known that she had arrived.

With nothing covering her body other than short tight black performance shorts and a long sleeve black compression shirt fitted to her slim body she wandered down the vacant street with nothing in her hands but a Microfusion Cell. She didn't have a solid plan. Nothing was well thought out but sometimes it was better to wing it than plan it out to an art only to have one factor mess the whole bloody scheme up. All she had to do was follow the lights. The biggest and brightest area of the city had to be the Enclave mainland base.

Every now and then she'd have to duck into the shadows to avoid a couple of patrolling MPs but for the most part she got pretty damn close with no problems. That's when she saw her perfect way in.

It was one of the medium light transport trucks she saw earlier sitting all by itself with no one around. At that moment she was thankful in one way that Haynes had raised her. He sure did teach her some crafty field tactics to get a job done. This one happened to be her favourite. She snuck over to the vehicle and slid underneath. She very carefully removed the bottom case of the cell. It glowed brightly in her hands but she was thankful the cover of the truck prevented its light from escaping. She carefully moved to the side of the truck and opened the gas tank. She slid the round in then ran to get clear.

Turns out she had a lot less time than she first estimated before the truck blew up sending burning pieces of metal, fuel and other kinds of debris in all directions. She was thrown forwards from the blast landing a good twenty feet away. She groaned and rolled to her back feeling as though she had just been beaten for an hour straight with baseball bats.

Her ears were ringing which muffled the nearby voices that called out for help to suppress the flames. The brilliant light from the explosion temporarily blinded her for a few seconds. Everything was a hazy blur and yet she knew when 3 heavily armoured soldiers stood over her talking among themselves. One bent down and grabbed her by the wrist pulling her to her feet. Even if she wanted to stand her legs weren't going to allow for much balance. She nearly crumpled but a second soldier held her up. She couldn't make out what they were saying and yet she forced a twisted smile across her face. Even if they beat her senseless right here it wouldn't matter because that - had been awesome.

The two soldiers half dragged her into the compound muttering things among themselves. In the corner of her eye she could still see the dim light of the flames and those struggling to extinguish them.

A large medal door opened and suddenly she was engulfed in an iridescent white light and gray hallways stretching as far as the eye could see. A deafening alarm was ringing throughout no doubt due to her arsonist act and yet there was very little activity within the halls. Her captors continued to drag her deeper down the narrow passages until they stopped at a large up armoured door that slid open and gave them access with a discreet pass code. Without much consideration she was tossed into a small 4 wall cell and closed in surrounded by darkness.

She was completely alone in here. She felt her way around the room unable to gauge her surroundings. It wasn't a very small cell. Maybe 15X15 feet. At one point she was feeling around the room when she crashed into a long metal platform protruding from the wall. She winced feeling her shin crunch into the hard surface. Her fingers traced along its cool top realizing this was a makeshift bed. When she realized what it was she wondered just how long she was going to be in here. From what she could tell there were two doors to this cell. Why, she wasn't sure at all.

Minutes felt like hours and hours felt like days. The more time she spent waiting in the dark the more she began to reconsider her choices. For all she knew, they would keep her in here until she rot and never know the reason she chose to attack. All she could think about was how she wished she had their attention. She couldn't help but feel eerily calm in light of her predicament.

There came metal scraping followed by a _whoosh_ that caught her off guard. She had been lying on the table when she heard the footsteps. She didn't say a single word despite not being able to see a single god damn thing. Out of nowhere she felt a hand on each shoulder. The sensation both shocked and frightened her. Who the hell was in here?

She felt the strength of the person lift her to her feet and within the second she was thrown against the wall violently. Her head crashed backwards against the iron walls and she groaned feeling as though she had been through the blast all over again. Something wet streamed down her face and she knew she was bleeding. Her eyes darted in all directions to try to see her assailant but in the darkness they remained undetected.

This was one of the best parts about his job. The infrared goggles made it ever so simple to see his detainee and gave him every advantage to strike when necessary. It was all part of the job and he loved it. He didn't imagine this young woman would stand it much longer. He'd broken men twice his own size and with the attitude of a male Deathclaw during mating season. This was child's play. When she punched at the air he couldn't help smirk at her attempt to defend herself. She turned in all directions while he stood perfectly still and watched. When she faced him directly he struck again.

This time he reached out with his hand and grasped her neck firmly in his hand. Her hands flung up to catch his wrist but before she could get any kind of grip he flung her back. She fell backwards stumbling over her own feet and fell to the ground. With eyes wide and frantically looking around she backed herself into the corner. She took short stabbing breaths as she tried to process what was happening here. Who was this person? Why was he doing this? What kind of tactic was this! She didn't beg him to stop. She did not cry out nor did she try to defend herself. She simply sat in the corner waiting for the next strike. When it didn't come she slowly began to stand.

When she was just about fully erect she felt the knuckles collide with the side of her face. Never before had someone struck her like this. One again she was on the floor tasting the warm metallic iron of her blood in her mouth. On the floor and on her knees, she remained still. She knew if she could see, everything would be spinning and she fought back the urge to be sick.

He was content with her current state now. She wouldn't put up much of a fight during her escort to the red room. He removed the goggles as the second door opened once again. This time however, there was a very faint red light illuminating the way for them.

She tried to glance at the one responsible for her torture but he wore a full medium weight combat armour. His entire body was clad in the black outfit, his face included - except his eyes which were covered by the goggles. She couldn't bring herself to look into his face anyways.

His orders had been clear right from the start. The Enclave believed she acted alone out of her own spite towards them. This had been the first crime directed towards them in months of this size which was really just a slap in the face. Truth was the higher couldn't care less about why she had done it. What they wanted to make sure was that it never happened again so fear was the best tactic.

It wasn't common for a female to be brought before him. He enjoyed breaking women once in a while. Usually his work catered towards more internal affairs and high-profile cases versus petty street arson but things had been slow and perhaps the highers felt he needed a bit of refreshing. If that was the case he was going to have some fun with this one.

The girl looked twenty or so. He noted her somewhat unusual attire. Kind of high-tech for a common Van girl. This was stuff the Enclave issued to its recon guys to wear under their armour. How had she gotten a set?

He dismissed the thought relatively quickly as he continued to collect his image of her. She had definitely been banged up tonight. That blast had burned a lot of her skin and blood was matted into her pulled back light blonde hair. She looked as though she'd die at any moment and yet she still clung on to life. Her slender frame, firm looking ass and well-developed bust would have certainly gotten a fair bit of notice from the other guys but he was a professional.

He scooped her to her feet from underneath her arm and lead her down the narrow corridor. She did not protest or dare to fight back. Not yet.

When they arrived at the next door she took a deep breath. The door opened revealing a slightly smaller room with a bathtub like object in the center. Four red lights places in each corner of the room shone down on tub illuminating the contents inside. He led her inside and shut the door behind them. Her attention soon turned to the contents in the tub.

"Just water," his voice explained. He was so calm and yet that made her feel slightly more on edge.

He reached up and pulled the black ski like mask over his head. Curiosity got the better of her as she turned her head to look at her captor. He had a slightly narrow face. His brows were somewhat pointed inwards giving him the look as if he was always angry. His hair was very short, maybe a one or two max with trimmers. His cheeks were sunk in a little with higher bone structure giving him a cold narrow mouth that looked as though it never smiled. His eyes were fixed on her with an intensity she had never seen before. There was something so cruel in his eyes that she couldn't bring herself to look at him for longer than a second.

Despite of his terrifying presence he was an extremely attractive man. Although it shamed her to think this she still was able to stifle such inappropriate thoughts and focus on more pressing matters.

He suddenly reached out and took hold of her. She flinched unexpectedly as he took her arms and pulled them behind her back. She felt the abrasive bond wrap around her wrists pulling them tightly and uncomfortably. She tried to stay composed herself but as he kicked out the back of her legs and dragged her to the edge of the filled tub her heart began to race.

He stood over her at her left side while he held her by her hair and restraints over the tub of water.

"The guys and I like to play a game with you vermin," he began. His voice was menacing yet very low, composed and charming. The contrast sent shivers down her spine. "See, we all pick a ten second block. When you finally give in, we check the time and one of us wins the days bet. I am giving you credit. I have the block two minutes, twenty seconds. If you can count to that number while submerged then die you'd be giving me some cash to spend at the bar tonight," he told her as he pulled her head back.

She stared at him with wide eyes.

It pleased him to see her like this. This way he knew he had all the control.

He had to be kidding.

Suddenly he plunged her head down into the water. She began to kick and struggle against his hold. He held her so firmly and yet she tried with all her might to break herself free. Panic washed over her as she felt him submerge her face in deeper. She tried to break the bonds that held her with absolutely no success. From within she could hear him laughing at her. He was enjoying watching her drown. He was going to enjoy killing her. Every second dragged on as she thought about what time she had left.

Lisi thought about how she accepted her life was over when she had radiation poisoning from drinking from the toxic lake or how she had been lost, nearly frozen out in the mountain storm. All those times seemed like a better way to die. Even the explosion that rocked her body felt better than this. This was helplessness at its best at the mercy of a sadistic man who was more concerned about getting his drink on then her life.

She fucking hated him. She wished their roles were reversed and that she could drown him. Watch him struggle and plead to the water to spare his life. To see his legs give that one final kick as his life flow down the drain with the vile water.

Despite her last moment she thought of Haynes. She hated him more than anything in this fucked up world and yet she just wanted someone to save her at this moment.

Perhaps she deserved this kind of cruel death. She hadn't exactly been the model citizen.

Everything had always been for herself. Maybe Haynes was right when he told her that her hands were just as blood stained as his own. She had hurt the other kids back in Fort Orleans. She was the reason the Raiders shot Teddy. She bludgeoned Canine until his brains decorated the caves.

She didn't deserve her life or a chance to avenge her parents.

Lisi stopped thrashing violently in the water. Who really was the monster in this situation? Was he any different from her when she held Weed's life in her hands? She chose to take it in cold vengeance for her parents.

This interrogator was doing the same thing.

At that moment she stopped thrashing about in the water. She canted her head slightly to the left. Her one eye stared up at him through the water. Despite the weak light in the room he could see her perfectly as the water settled.

He was surprised and yet his face remained expressionless. She was staring at him with just one eye as she remained submerged in the water.

In all his years as the leading interrogator he never had some one look upon him this way. He spent his life reading into people's emotions and displays but this one was way out of context. He even turned her head just a bit more so he could fully grasp the look she gave him.

Her straight line mouth. The way her eyes didn't squint or her brow furrow in the slightest. She no longer look at him with repugnance. When her stare fell away from his he knew what was about to happen. He felt her body tense up as he stomach heaved.

She braced herself with what was to come next.

_Just open your mouth. Just let it in. It won't hurt. It's ok. Just breath, _she willed.

Lisi could no longer keep the air in her lungs. She had to take the breath. She knew what it meant and despite feeling regret, she opened her mouth and closed her eyes. She breathed in feeling her lungs swell and the end creep in.


	11. Chapter 11

_-I know you probably all hate me for how I left off chapter 10. Luckily for you all I finished Chapter 11 at the same time so here it is! Hope you all like it. Wait till the end again :P As for the grammatical errors for YOUR I will review each chapter and correct! Thanks for letting me know! __-_

**Chapter 11**

It was so quiet. So peaceful and for those long seconds everything felt at ease in her mind. So this was death? Didn't seem so bad and yet she was confused about why it was so anticlimactic.

She felt something tug at her body.

No, she was comfortable here.

Someone was laughing at her.

She couldn't fight their grasp on her as she felt herself be torn away from the silence. Instantly her lungs squeezed out the liquid. She coughed and gagged as she felt the cold floor beneath her. The room materialized as she opened her eyes.

She was pulled on her back and forced to look upon the face who put her through one of her worst experiences. His pitiless grin grew as he knelt over her body.

"Fun huh?" he asked as the smile grew.

"What the ... fuck was that!" she snapped in a growl.

"Liquid breathing" he told her as he raised a brow. "Great way to really give you the scare of your life," he added.

"How is that..."

"Perfluorocarbon molecules make it possible to breath in the solution," he informed. "Genius huh?"

She whimpered slightly. That had been absolutely horrible.

He had seen the same look in almost everyone he pulled out of the fluid. What went on in their minds the moment before they took in the mixture must have been quite unfathomable.

He pulled her to her feet and stepped back.

"I am going to release you now. After this you're free to leave. I really don't care why you chose to blow up a truck but maybe now you'll think twice about doing something so foolish again. We don't often give second chances but we needed to set another example," he told her.

During his little lecture she remained silent. He cut her bonds and lead her out of the room. As he guided her with his fingers on her back he could feel her tremble. He sure had gotten through to this one. An MP was waiting to take over just down the hall. Upon seeing him she stopped. The interrogator tried to push her forward gently but she didn't budge. Her head turned and she gave him a fierce look. His brow arched slightly.

"Move it," he barked.

She was looking at him strangely and it made him uneasy. There was a trace of defiance in her stare that made him reconsider whether she had been broken after all.

It wasn't easy to look at him as she was. She needed to regain her composure and gain steady ground once again.

"So long," she said with a smile as she turned her back and allowed the MP to take her the rest of the way.

The interrogator stood there for a moment watching her exit the facility. What they hell had that been? Usually the MP was the hero of the situation and his detainees couldn't get far enough away from him when he released them.

As he made his way back to his own quarters he couldn't shake the very last image of her smile from his mind. It enraged him to think perhaps she had been playing him all along. Had she really been afraid? Was she more dangerous than they had been lead to believe? Never had someone responded to his methods with a smile and a casual good-bye.

His report in the morning would clearly state that she should be watched very carefully.

* * *

The MP had escorted her off the base with his carbine poking in her back every step of the way. When she was outside the base fences she was permitted to leave. She didn't look back as she casually walked away.

When she was out of sight she threw herself against a nearby building as she felt the anxiety rush over her. That had been one of the hardest things she had ever done. If watching her parents die was the worst thing to go through then believing she was about to die by drowning in the hands of an Enclave interrogator was a very close second.

One thing was certain, she had to get out of here. No doubt Abbey was worried sick. Perhaps it was best to check in with the old woman before returning home just to give her piece of mind.

When she reached the old woman's house she knocked gently. Abbey opened the door and let Lisi in.

"Thank goodness you're alright child!" Abbey said throwing her frail arms around the girl. "Heaven's sake. You're soaked!"

"No problems," Lisi assured her as she shivered a little.

Abbey withdrew to the upstairs bathroom for a moment and returned with a stained dirty towel. Better than nothing Lisi thought, though perhaps not.

After a moment to dry off Lisi looked to Abbey and forced a smile.

"Really it was fine," Lisi tried but Abbey wasn't fooled. "Just had a run in with their welcoming committee," she joked though it was nothing really to joke about.

"Tell me everything," Abbey asked as she served the girl leftover mystery meat.

Lisi explained what had happened and how she ended up with a sadistic interrogator. Abbey's jaw dropped when Lisi mentioned this.

"You met Scharff..." she murmured in disbelief.

"Who?" Lisi asked.

"We all know him as Scharff. He's the Enclave's top interrogator. He is a cruel man with no regard for human life. I can't believe you're even alive," Abbey spoke.

Funny she mentioned feeling alive.

"I don't think we're going to be friends," Lisi teased regarding her encounter with the man.

Abbey just frowned.

"What will you do now child?"

"I have to go back. I have to find a way to fix this," Lisi explained.

"Goodness child. You managed to escape with your life. Is that not good enough?"

"No," Lisi muttered as she stood up thanked Abbey for the meal. She explained that it was now time for her to get some much-needed sleep in her own home. As weird as it felt staying there she knew it was safe from unwanted attention.

When she reached the front door she silently opened it, looked inside and stepped in. She walked towards the kitchen and stood in the archway looking out the back window seeing the two graves of her parents.

Had they been alive today, Lisi was certain her mom would have held her and told her that everything was going to be ok. She wondered just how many parents out there were holding their children coaxing them into relaxation. The Canadians in Vancouver were slaves to these merchants of fear and death.

So long as she was alive she would carry on as her parents had. She would fight till the end to see that no child would grow up without a mother and father. She knew this is what she was always supposed to do. Alone or with her people behind her she would bring the Enclave down.

As she lay on the ruined couch in the old family room she thought about the interrogator. She couldn't wait to reciprocate the feeling.

* * *

That night she came up with a solid plan. She put the stealth armour back on and picked up the Gauss Ridle pleased to feel it in her hands again.

Come morning she was ready for it. Powering up the suit she took to the streets once again as the transport trucks arrived at dawn just as she was told. Everyone in the area was packed into the truck and the soldiers closed the tailgate. Before they could speed off she jumped on the back of the truck holding on to the tailgate and standing on the rear bumper. The man in the very last seat stared right at her but it was clear he was looking well passed her though he had heard the odd noise of her jumping aboard. His eyes once again fell back to the floor of the truck.

Lisi looked at all the people in the back. Their gaunt faces and frail bodies were hard to take in. She wanted to help them right there and then but she had to calculate her moves. In time they would be free. The truck lurched forward and tore through the city streets. The truck entered the mainland base with a simple pass through a security check point.

It felt strange to be back so soon. It looked different during the day. Most of the soldiers were out and about doing their morning physical activity.

She jumped off the back for the truck tucking and rolling as it sped off. That part had been easy. The next part was going to be a bigger challenge with the one after that being nearly impossible.

She had to find the quartermaster and the weapons locker. She made her way silently through the large compound trying to find anything that lead to the weapons locker. Every time a soldier opened a door she would pass through without any kind of detection. This place was bigger than she thought.

She scowled when she passed through a door only to find herself in the barracks wing. She walked silently through the halls trying to find a different route out when she saw something that turned things from sketchy to dire.

A dog was being lead by his handler right towards her. She could fool a man's eye but there was no way she'd fool a dog's nose. With no choice she hit the entrance button to the door beside her and threw herself in. The door shut with a _whoosh_ allowing her to feel like the danger had disappeared until she turned around to observe the place she had put herself in.

How she kept herself from screaming out - she did not know.

He glanced up suddenly from his work looking at his door which had just opened on its own. Fucking base was falling apart day after day. More defects to report.

Scharff was sitting at his desk looking over some overdue paper work.

Lisi's heart began to race. She thought as though she could hear it pounding loudly in her chest - perhaps he could too. She was about to flee back out the door when it a knock suddenly came from the other side.

"Yeah," Scharff called out.

The door opened and Lisi flung herself back as another soldier entered.

"Colonel wants your report on the attack from last night," the soldier explained.

Scharff groaned and looked upon the soldier with the same cold eyes he had used on her.

"I'm not finished. I'll have them on the Colonel's desk in an hour. Be sure to let the Colonel know that if he values the safety of this operation, he'll listen to me this time. An incident like what happened should be the wake up call he needs," he snapped and dismissed the soldier from his sight. She wanted to follow the man out but something tugged at her curiosity.

Scharff was writing about her and by the sounds of it, it was important.

As silently as she could she walked over to him sitting at his desk and peered over his shoulder to see what he was writing.

_May 17__th__ 2092_

_Situation Report_

_2330_

_Para A)_

_Lone female was detained after a successful detonation of explosive device in a medium wheeled transport vehicle. Female was segregated in holding cell. Inquisitive protocol was carried out by Intelligence; Chief of Interrogation. _

_Para B)_

_Upon completion of tactics female was released back into local populace._

_Para C)_

_Final examination of this female suggests she should be considered medium threat level. Her dress was unlike a common Van resident. Her reception towards the examination had been relatively effective until she gave the Chief reason to believe that she may be more of a threat than first perceived._

_Para D)_

_Suggest locating female in her place of work and keeping a close watch on her. Note any suspicious behaviour. _

_Captain R. Schaff 1897_

_Protected Top Secret_

Lisi was just about finished when he suddenly rose from the chair and turned right into her.

"What the fuck!" he barked quite startled.

She stumbled back a little which gave him an idea of where she was. He ran in her direction but she managed to step out of his way.

Shit, this was bad. In avoiding him she bumped his chair. Another dead giveaway.

"Who the fuck is in here?!" he roared as he threw himself upon her before she could aim her weapon at him. The Gauss Rifle flew from her hands as he charged into her. He tried to gain the upper hand but Lisi was able to pull out her small boot knife and slashed at his arm feeling the blade connect with soft tissue.

"Agh!" he winced as he saw the deep gash in his forearm. He felt for her wrist and pinned it down. Lisi thrust her knee into his groin. He groaned unable to fight the reflex to keel over holding the area in agony. She clambered to her feet ready to run for the rifle but as she got off, Lisi saw him go for the big red fire alarm button by his door.

Lisi turned and flung herself upon him before he could reach the button. He countered her tackle, gaining the upper hand and pinning her to the floor this time with greater success. She struggled beneath his weight and thrashed her head side to side as she felt his hands reached for the underside of her helmet.

When he pulled it off his eyes widened as the suit powered down. Her teeth were bared and clenched as she glared up at him with intense abhorrence.

"You..." was all he could say as he held her to the ground holding her arms down at her side.

This couldn't have gone worse. Anyone but him. She had been so careless. To stick around when she could have gotten away. How selfish of her to be more interested in his stupid report than the greater mission. She felt so ashamed.

All she could hope to do was appeal to his mercy. Fucking hell he was an interrogator. He had seen every kind of human collapse in his line of work. Tears and pleas for pity would have little to no effect. She had to go about this differently.

She started to laugh.

This was a new one.

His brow arched and he fell silent first.

"You forgot to add in that report how cute I am," she teased.

His jaw remained tightly clenched as he held her to the floor. He did not smile nor did he blink.

"My arm is starting to go numb. Do you mind just easing up a bit?" she asked as she looked upon him with a cocky smirk.

This was far from easy. To keep her voice from cracking took a lot of will power. Despite her cool demeanor she was struggling to keep up this approach.

He was far from amused by her antics.

"How did you get ..."

"That arm looks pretty bad. Maybe you ought to go see the nurses," she continued.

This kind of behaviour took him back to the very first course he took to be an interrogator. This was a very effective yet annoying way to get into their own minds. He knew her game and he knew how to play it and yet he hated this battle of wits. He was more of the physical type.

"Just shut up," he ordered.

The moment he gave her that single chance she was taking it. She'd go for the rifle and end his twisted life once and for all. She only wished she could do it as she had done Weeds but the situation dictated.

His eyes scanned for any way to reach the alarm without taking his weight off of her.

"Seriously, you're bleeding all over me. Can you just deal with that. I'll wait right here," she mocked.

He was getting more annoyed but his vacant stare masked it perfectly. His only giveaway with his slight agitated tone of voice.

"I will bite that tongue of yours out," he told her daring her to speak again. His cold glare told Lisi he was not fooling around and had maybe done that very action before.

Scharff shifted moving her arms so that they were now above her head. He held her wrists firmly and look fiercely upon her.

Lisi felt something uneasy dwell within her. She didn't like how he held her now. She fought against his hands a little which only made him tighten his grip. The sinister smirk was wiped clean from her face as she felt the unrest stir up.

"Get off me" she mumbled at first glaring at him.

Her expression had changed instantly. He noted how she now looked extremely serious and was fighting him more and more with each passing second.

"Get the fuck off me now!" she snapped as she began to thrash.

It was a full blown panic attack. The way he held her felt too real - like something that played in her mind more than anything. Images of her mother lying on the table as the two soldiers held her just as Lisi was held now replayed over and over.

She began to struggle releasing a vigour he didn't think she had in her. He was really fighting to keep her down but the more he fought her, the more she strained in his grasp. She was just about in hysterics. What the fuck had brought this on so abruptly?

She was shaking and whimpering to be free and he had no idea why other than his threat to bite out her tongue. Now she was behaving like a psycho.

She trashed and kicked harder than she had when he had held her head in water. This was very odd behaviour. Suddenly one of her hands came free and she violently clawed at him. He wince feeling her fingers go for his eyes. He withdrew the other hand to shield his face when she suddenly kicked herself free. She took the helmet and quickly put it on and powered the suit up before he could grab her. She threw herself back to try and evade his capture.

Her breathing was erratic and yet she managed to keep silent as he moved around the room trying to catch her once again.

"Do you really think you'll make it out of here?" Scharff asked.

He suddenly noticed the Gauss Rifle nearby. When he dove for that, she dove for the knife. He couldn't shoot what he couldn't see but she saw him just fine and came up with the knife.

She barred her teeth as she slowly advanced towards him.

"You really must have some kind of motive" he called out to her. He went quiet trying to pick out her movement but she was already in place to strike.

Before he even had an inkling she was there, Scharff felt the sharp pain in his stomach. He looked down to see the knife cleanly embedded in his lower abdomen. His eyes went wide as he stumbled back and grasped the handle dropping the rifle in the process.

He used the wall to help keep his footing but he felt his legs give out and slumped down to the floor. His off white shirt began to stain with the blood that collected outside the wound. He knew to remove the knife would be instant death for sure. The moment the knife was free he would bleed out in seconds. If the blade had managed to penetrate any major internal organs it was game over anyways. His eyes looked around for her. Surely she was about to finish him off when he saw the Gauss Rifle suddenly vanished.

"Fuck ... Fucking cunt," he groaned half choking on the blood that pooled in his mouth. The only response he got was the opening of the door followed by it shutting closed.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

It was a little shocking how easily she was able to forget about the man left to die in his room. She carried on navigating her way through the maze of corridors and hallways until she finally came to the weapons and ammunition vault.

She pressed the access panel but it lit up red. The door was locked. Beside the door was a white sign clearly pointing out the hours of operation. Go figure they were still out doing their morning activities.

She leaned against the wall keeping an eye in all directions until the man came to work promptly at 1000 hrs. The bittersweet smell of coffee filled her nose as the weapons technician slid his pass card though the locking mechanism. The door opened allowing her to slip inside before it firmly shut behind him.

Her eyes lit up when she saw the vast array of advanced weaponry. It was all too good to be true. The lockers stretched back nearly the length of a hockey rink. This is exactly what she needed. The only question that remained was how to get the weapons from in here to out there.

The tech sat at his desk sipping his coffee and reviewing some notes from the day before. First thing she had to do was to deal with him.

It was nothing personal. The man simply needed to die for this operation to succeed. She scanned the room for any cameras but clearly the Enclave felt overly confident in their abilities to keep this base impenetrable.

She picked up a screw driver from off a work bench and approached the unsuspecting man. Her plan was to strike as quickly as she could but even she didn't expect the skull to be as thick as it was. In her mind it had appeared easy but things never work out as we intend them to.

Lisi had attempted to drive the screw driver into the man's temple but it grazed across the bone and more embedded itself in his eye. The man screamed frantically flailing around in distress. She pulled the screw driver lose frantically trying to come up with a plan B. That's when she dove on him and filled his body with small puncture marks from the screwdriver's blade.

It had been brutal, gruesome and as far off from her initial _quick and painless _plan but at least the man was silent. Right?

Yikes.

Now the question remained how to get the weapons out of here. She pulled the bloody card key out of the man's wallet along with a small multi-tool that could prove handy later since her trusty knife had been left behind in Scharff's body. She would have to be quick. She didn't know how long she had before someone uncovered his body and sounded the alarm.

She opened the heavy gate of the weapons vault with the card key and began to analyze what she had to work with here.

Her original plan was to fill a bag with small arms but when she saw the back garage door her heart skipped a beat. Beside the door was another access door leading to the outside. This was the lucky break she needed.

This called for finesse. She exited the vault and looked across the compound. Sure enough the transport vehicles were parked in rows. She made her way across the compound and jumped into the nearest truck.

Fuck.

This was the first time she had seen something like this. How the hell did it work?

She began to press things at random hoping something would wake the beast. Finally with the right fluke combination the engine roared to life.

Now what?

After nearly 5 minutes of trying to get the thing to move she looked up to see a soldier approaching the vehicle clearly drawn by the running engine and lack of visible body operating it.

As the soldier opened the door, Lisi slid over to the passenger seat. He climbed in and reached for the engine kill switch when he felt the cold barrel of the rifle on his head. He yelped in a rather high pitch spasm with wide eyes looking in her general direction.

No one was there and yet something was clearly holding a weapon to his head.

"Please don't kill me," he begged.

"Can you move this thing?" she asked coldly.

He didn't say a word but nodded.

"Don't you dare do anything other than what I tell you or this rifle will splatter your brains all over the window, go it?"

The young soldier nodded again.

"Back it up to the door over there," she ordered carefully noting how he operated the vehicle.

The soldier put the vehicle in reverse and slowly backed it up to the vault door.

"Get out," she ordered and the two slid out of the truck. She steered him back into the weapons locker with her voice and the rifle in his spine. When he saw the dead tech he whimpered.

"Strip," she barked.

His eyes flashed in the direction of her voice but the nudge from the rifle brought about his actions. He got out of his uniform and threw the pile of clothes away. He stood in nothing but his gitch.

She played with the idea of letting him live but the truth of the matter was he was an Enclave soldier and one less was better than one more. Without another thought she took out the multi tool, pulled the small 2 inch blade out and sliced the man's throat open before he react to the blade. His eyes bugged out of his skull as he grabbed at his throat and collapsed to the ground in a pool of crimson.

It had to be done quickly and quietly. At least this time she got it right.

She opened the garage door and began to load the vehicle with weapons and ammo of all kinds. When she was done, she closed up the truck, dropped the tarp and switched from her stealth armour to the man's Enclave soldier suit. It was a little loose but from the driver's seat she doubt anyone would notice. She closed the garage door and hopped into the vehicle. She operated the vehicle as she had watched to soldier do earlier.

It took some getting used to but she managed to drive towards the front gate. It was just her luck that the transport trucks were still coming and going with waves of people from the city. She simply jumped in behind a small convoy of other vehicles, gave a slight wave to the MPs manning the gate as she left and drove out of the base without raising any attention.

When the trucks began to turn towards their specified area she was able to continue deeper into the city. When the other trucks were out of view she took in a deep breath and began to laugh. She had done it. She had fucking done it! Other than a few random factors she had just stolen a massive stock of fully operational weapons and the ammo to boot.

She grasped the steering wheel tightly and smacked it once with great content. She turned on to the vacant street where her parents house was and parked the vehicle next to it in the narrow side alley. She spent a good hour packing garbage and debris all around it so that it was completely covered and invisible to even a trained eye.

Off loading the weapons took little time. All of it now lay in a massive heap right on the living room floor. She was certain her parents would have been thrilled with her actions. Single handily she had done what many would have called impossible. Now the real question remained. Now what?

* * *

She figured her best plan was to ask Abbey about the _who's who_ in this city. Once again so walked to the woman's house to graciously accepted her into her home.

After a long and drawn out conversation about Lisi's dire need to put some meat on her bones Abbey reluctantly allowed the conversation to be swayed to retaking the city.

"I haven't started a war before and I can't really say I have any idea on how to do it. I am just one person and let's be realistic. I got those weapons purely on luck," Lisi described.

Abbey sighed and nodded her head.

"You could asked Jon Lacroix. He was around when your parents were doing their thing. He kind of holds the kind of reputation with the people you may need. If you want them to fight back, your best bet is to persuade him," Abbey explained. "He, like your father, tried to piss the Enclave off. Had his own gang back then who provided some interesting pyrotechnic displays."

That was something to go on at least. There really wasn't much time to lose so Lisi thanked Abbey and left in the direction of Lacroix's residence just down the road as Abbey described.

She knocked on the large deep green wooden door hearing the heavy footsteps on the other side come to answer.

"What the fuck?" he called out as he looked around swearing he felt something brush up beside him.

When she removed her helmet and appeared before him he grasped at his heart in alarm.

"Geezes fuck!" he exclaimed. "Who the ... How?"

She brought a finger up to her lips indicating for him to shut the hell up and shut the door.

"Relax I am not here to hurt you," she began.

The man looked at her in silence. He appeared to be in his mid forties. His hair was prematurely gray and somewhat shaggy. His face wasn't groomed and he wore a tattered white stained shirt with torn slacks. Still, his eyes had somewhat of a fierce look about them like a caged animal waiting to be unleashed.

"My name is Lisi. I use to live down the street when I was very young. Abbey tells me your the man to talk to about getting our city back," she told him.

The man tossed his head back a bit and gave her a sharp "HA! Look kid I don't know who you are. I haven't even seen you before in my life. I think it's best if you just get the hell out of my house," he exclaimed.

"I am not fucking around and I won't leave until you hear me out," she informed.

Now the man looked at her with a serious face like he was ready to pick her up and toss her out.

"What if I told you I have enough weapons stashed away to bring the Enclave to their knees?" she asked.

Suddenly a voice came from upstairs.

"Honey? Is that you? Who are you taking to?" a woman's voice called out as she came down the stairs. She moved rather slowly and when she came into view, Lisi could see why. She was holding her belly clearly well into her pregnancy.

"Meryl, it's ok. I got this one," his voice assured when her terrified eyes fell on Lisi.

"Hun, who is she?" Meryl asked sounding quite concerned.

"Uuuuh," the man tried but Lisi took over.

"My name is Lisi. I am Geoff and Annie's daughter," she explained. The couple both snapped their heads and looked at the girl who looked back at them with a serious expression.

"No shit!" the man said with a slight nod and a sarcastic grin. "Now I know you're fucking with me. That family died hell of a long time ago. That little girl of their's is dead too," he informed.

"I can assure you I am not dead. Now I really don't have time for this shit. I didn't come here to discuss my parents or the circumstances of their death," she said with an agitated tone.

The man fell silent and looked at the girl. Her own icy stare met his. After a drawn out silence the scowl on his face lifted to a smile.

"Yep, you're Geoff's daughter alright! Never thought I'd see you again! Fuck we all thought you were dead along with 'em! Hell I was maybe just a few years older than you when they died. Really bad business. Fucking Enclave had no right to do what they did!" he told her which brought a faint smile on her face now.

"Jon Lacroix," he said offering his large hand for her to shake which she did.

She could tell this man was exactly the guy she needed.

"So, will you hear me out?" she asked.

Jon and Meryl looked at one another with a grimace.

"Please, just listen. I managed to secure a good collection of weapons. At the moment they are sitting on my living room floor. If we plan this right and we have the people we can reclaim the city. The Enclave is weaker than you think. They have spread themselves thin. I have traveled across both countries and I can tell you that if we strike, no one is coming to help them," she informed.

Once again Jon and Meryl looked at one another. They both exchanged a silent thought before Jon looked back to Lisi.

"We have a baby. Our first didn't make it passed her first year but now we are blessed to have a second chance. I am too old to be putting oily rags in gas tanks. Those days are behind me. It's time I accept what has become of this world and be content with having my family. I ... I can't risk not seeing..." Jon tried before Lisi interrupted.

"Your child will be born into slavery and their children as well. You have the chance to free them from a life of servitude. This is your chance. How will they feel growing up knowing you could have made a better life for them but instead chose to be afraid?" she asked slightly irritated.

He looked a little stunned. She spoke the truth with a wisdom beyond her years even if she did come off quite strong. Jon felt Meryl's hand on his shoulder. She was reassuring her husband that she would love him no matter what. He smiled at his wife and nodded.

"Count me in," he confirmed as his eyes fell on Lisi. "Tomorrow at work, I will pass on the message. Give us three days to spread the word. There is an old abandoned garage where we use to plan our attacks. The building is still there and kind of holds sentimental value. It's also accessible by the underground storm drains. The soldiers on patrol never bother to check 'em. When the moon is high we will meet you there. Bring what you have collected. You better have a more thought out argument for these people. I was an easy mind to sway but some of these people have seriously given up," he told her.

He drew up the small map of the underground for her to find her way to the garage.

"Take this to find it," he said.

Lisi nodded as Jon opened the door for her. She powered up the suit and stepped out into the street.

"Three days. I promise we can do this," she assured him in her invisibility before making her way back to her own home.

* * *

Things had been surprisingly quiet over the last couple days. She half expected the soldiers to be on a manhunt but nothing came to be. She had since moved the weapons from her living room down into the sewers in the dead of night.

Finally the time came for her to meet Jon and those he managed to get to follow them.

Lifting the manhole outside her home silently, she jumped down into the old storm drain. It was just large enough to stand in. It took a while for her to navigate through using the half ass sketch Jon had given her but finally she emerged at the ladder and climbed out.

She emerged topside in a very dark alley right beside the door to the garage. This was perfect. Jon was standing by the door waiting for her.

At first she was nervous when just a dozen or show arrived but as they held off more and more turned up.

Lisi was pleased to see the people turning out. Young and old, male and female. It was clear everyone had enough of this life. They were willing to die if it meant a chance at change.

Jon stood beside her placing his hand on her shoulder.

"When I told them who you were, who your parents were. No one said no," he told her with a kind smile.

Jon had told her to come up with a way to persuade them to fight. She looked at the gathering crowd and in a hushed tone offered her words and plan.

"The question is are all humans human or are some more human than others? Do some

count more than others? I look in your eyes and what I see is exactly what I saw in the eyes of those Enclave soldiers. I see the eyes of human beings and they are exactly the same. We are all the same. We are all human and everyone of us has to fight together.

So I ask you. Will you see the human being in yourself or will you continue to see the slave that they see? Fight back. Regain your humanity. Regain your life," she spoke with passion and intensity.

She didn't need to give them a plan. She didn't need to threaten them. All she needed was to remind them of who they were and with that they listened. Every single one of them was nodding in agreement.

Lisi was the first to admit she didn't really have a way with people. The night before while going through her home she went through some old books of her parents stashed away. She had picked the words out of one of those books. It all seemed fitting. All she had to do was change the wording around a bit so that it fit their cause.

Once again Jon placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see the tears in the man's eyes. She couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable in the presence of the crying man. She kind of hoped he was a bit stronger than that.

"You're parents would be proud," he told her.

The words didn't really hold much value but she brought herself to smile so that he felt like he got through to her.

* * *

The days went on and progress was being made. They adopted the old abandoned garage to act as headquarters. They carved their way through the sewers to avoid detection to attend their meetings in secret. Preparations for the upcoming riot were underway. It would be their first stand to say enough was enough.

They managed to move all the guns from her living room to the garage in one night.

Lisi sat in on every meeting but for the most part it was Jon who ran the show. She wasn't a brilliant strategist nor did she know the city inside and out but she certainly knew how to enrage people. Whenever she offered an idea the people usually shifted uncomfortably but Jon always grinned.

If this plan went off it would be chaos. Fighting would break out and the city would turn into a war zone. Everyone had to be alright with that and so far everyone was on the same page.

* * *

The day finally arrived. In the abandoned garage Lisi waited for the people to return home from work. When the sun went down, they would strike. Despite the growing tension her nerves were calm. She sat in silence going over the final preparations in her mind.

"You're going to get all these innocent people killed," a man's voice whispered to her from the darkness that surrounded.

Her teeth bared and her arms folded across her chest.

"Shouldn't you be informing the other side we're coming?" she snapped back.

Haynes stepped out of the shadows and looked at her with a frail face. As usual he was clad in heavy armour and looked as soldierly as ever.

"Have you thought about failure? What if you lose? What will happen to all these people?" he asked.

"We all know the risks!" she said highly agitated. "We will not sit back and allow ourselves to be slaves any longer!"

"You mean _they_ will not sit back," he corrected.

Her eyes flashed at him with intense hostility.

"Look kiddo, these may be your people but you are not one of them. At any moment you can wipe your hands clean and walk away. You're leading these people with blind vengeance. That is why I say you are going to get them all killed," he informed.

"What else can I do?" she asked as her shoulders slumped and for the first time she felt like this was all a big mistake.

"Come home. Come back to me. Forget all of them. You didn't really care in the first place. They're better off without you," he enlightened.

"I will not abandon them now. If they are going to die then it looks like I am going to die with them," she told him right back.

Haynes only shook his head and retreated back into the shadows.

Was Haynes right? Was she acting on impulse? Was she so blind with hate that she had convinced an entire city to basically lay down their lives so she could get her revenge?

**-Context: For those who are curious. The words Lisi spoke when she addressed the people were derived from a speech Canadian Ret. General Romeo Dallaire spoke in regards to his mission in Rwanda. I highly suggest looking into his work and the mission. He is an inspiration to many Canadians. Though Lisi is some what of a darker heroine, I thought having the books with the Generals work in her father's collection extremely important.-**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

The night was calm and warm which bore to contrast the very events to take place. Jon stood with the many who gathered in the desolate garage giving them praise for their upcoming retribution.

Lisi remained cast aside in the shadows by her own decision. These few men and women looked to Jon for reassurance. He was a brother who spilt blood with them and felt their anguish all these years. She was simply the catalyst they needed to gain back their lives.

When the hour drew upon them Jon returned to her side with a grin on his face.

"Everyone knows what to do. We will not give back the city until every last one of us is dead," he spoke.

Lisi looked to him with an unsettling gaze. How probable that outcome was. She knew that if she raised doubt that Jon would be filled with disappointment. To crush his spirits now would only bring death upon them more swiftly.

"Are you sure you can do this?" he asked.

Truth was, Lisi didn't think much about her own mission. Nonetheless she gave a confident nod and smirk.

"I got you something," he informed as he opened up a backpack and retrieved two glimmering objects from within.

Her head tilted slightly when she saw the two small ... she didn't know what they were. They looked like metal claws with a hammer handle.

"What the heck are these?" she asked only to be met with a cold glare.

"Ice axes. We Canadians were built to survive the harsh climate of this country. Those there are a great tool. I bet you wish you had those when you were crossing the mountains. They make a great weapon too. I use to be a bit of a climber in my days. Hopefully they will be of some use to you," Jon explained

Lisi raised a brow. She held each one like a hammer in each hand and inspected the long, curved jagged spike on the end of each one. She made a hack and slash gesture into the air. A twisted grin played on her face.

"Alright," Jon began. "So they are a bit crude looking but I tell ya, if any crazed chick came at me with ice axes, I would shit a brick!" he taunted.

Lisi smirked and graciously accepted her gifts. They were quite aesthetically pleasing. Their body was of solid metal with a rubberized grip. The blades themselves were black steel. Jon was right to think of them as menacing.

He patted her on the shoulder before returning to the group as they carried out one final discussion before leaving the garage to their positions around the city. A small group of young men and women remained behind to keep the HQ secure.

She held the Gauss Rifle tightly in her grasp and breathed a heavy sigh.

Show time.

With that the stealth armour powered up she too left the sanctity of the burned out garage.

* * *

The Enclave mainland base lit up the night sky. From her perch on the 3rd storey window in a vacant building she waited for the breach. Her heart began to race with the anticipation of the fight. Through the quiet streets she could hear the faint rumbling of an engine. It was several seconds later when the truck came into view. The same vehicle she had escaped in now proved to be of use a second time.

She had to get this shot. Everything counted on her making it. The truck was packed full of explosives she had secured in her raid aided with litter that would act as flying debris and shrapnel.

_Wait for it._

_Wait for it._

When the driver suddenly jumped from the truck the soldiers manning the gate looked in alarm at the unmanned speeding machine thundering ever closer to the main gate. The soldiers didn't know how to respond to the approaching vehicle. They tried to shoot at it and destroy the engine but still it charged like a bull.

She lay flat on her stomach holding the rifle still. She breathed in and out with slow controlled breaths. When it was at the gate she took her shot. The single round exploded from the barrel of her rifle bound for the contents in the rear of the truck. The highly charged round ignited the material and the truck blew apart in a brilliant display of firepower. The soldiers were either engulfed in flame or thrown clear with the devastating force of the blast.

Even at a great distance she felt the concussion wave rock the building. That had surely been quite the spectacle. When the gate was breached all hell broke loose.

Suddenly the calm night turned to chaos as gunfire erupted from all over the city. Any patrols walking the streets found themselves fired upon but the main force of the Canadian effort was directed at the main gate. Swarms of armed fighters pushed through firing at anyone who raised a gun back at them.

It took the Enclave a few long minutes to grasp the situation fully. Clearly the element of surprise had worked but when they finally did join the fight they brought their power with them.

Lisi remained high above the brawl below taking shots when they presented themselves.

The Gauss Rifle was truly an amazing weapon. What didn't kill, brought a man to his back allowing for another shot to end his life.

It wasn't to be expected that they would take the base. That hadn't been the mission. They wanted to make a display of rebellion. In the short minutes that passed they had done just that. The Enclave certainly got the message that the Canadians would no longer be slave labourers.

It wasn't long before the fight took over the area. The streets were packed with armed men and women fighting on both sides. As more time passed by it seemed more Canadians were brought from their homes to join their brothers and sisters in battle.

Even as the blood spilled, Lisi began to laugh as she caused a man's head to blow apart and his body to crumple to the ground. This was almost too much fun.

In her overwhelming enjoyment she failed to see the approaching hellfire trooper. Her glowing rounds from the window had drawn them in to her position. Suddenly the window lit up with flame causing her to retreat back suddenly.

The fire took to the hollowed out building almost instantly. Pleasure was suddenly overcome with panic as the way she had entered was blocked by flame. This wasn't good. The heat was unbearable. It stung at her skin as embers fell from the ceiling. With each step she heard the floor groan and protest to her weight. She had to step delicately and yet she was running out of time. The air burned as she breathed in the fumes. As she approached a door the flames licked up the walls preventing her escape.

Her only option was down. Straight down. With that, she slung the rifle over her shoulder and pulled the two ice axes from off her waist belt. She took to her knees and began to hack away at the floor. When she made an opening big enough she dropped down. What she hadn't planned on was the next floor to be far weaker. She crashed through the second floor baring straight down to the first.

She landed with a heavy thud as she landed on her stomach and rolled onto her side. That was not what she intended to do. With the heat growing more unbearable she forced herself to stand. Her only option now was a glass window that would put her directly in the middle of the fight.

With a deep breath she forced herself through the crashing glass and landed with a roll in the middle of the sidewalk.

No one even glanced at her as she erupted out to the streets aided with invisibility by the armour she wore. Everyone was caught up in their own battles and heroics. The Gauss Rifle was a great weapon but, in close range it was too slow to be considered useful. Her only option was the 2 ice axes Jon had given her. It was far from an ideal scenario but she had no other choices available at the moment.

At first it was difficult to yield such weapons but in a matter of minutes she began to slice through armour. They were light enough to be thrown around and yet heavy enough to pack a deadly carving into weak points within the armour. What added to the thrill was just how much blood splashed from each violent blow. She could taste the metallic tang of their life as it splattered her with each life she claimed.

The soldier's fear was increased by the invisible force that moved through their ranks hacking at their bodies with deadly force. Despite their numbers many were falling to this ghost that fought against them.

Suddenly she was knocked to the ground by a force never felt or expected. Her muscles tightened and she found herself unable to move. That wasn't the worst part. The electricity that coursed through her body carried on for a long duration leaving her drained physically. When she finally was able to recover she noticed that her armour no longer cloaked her. The high energy output from the weapon had fried the entire system.

From a few hundred feet away the soldier approached his downed target.

When Lis's eyes finally opened she looked upon the heavily armoured soldier. She didn't know if it was her mind playing tricks or if he really did appear to be glowing slightly.

Through their tinted helmets they glared at one another.

He carried a weapon like none she had ever seen or researched. It's long body housed electrified currents that gave off a chilling blue glow. As she reached for one of the hatchets that lay by her side his heavy boot crushed her hand. She let out a piercing scream feeling the bones crush. He suddenly knelt down placing a knee on her chest preventing any further movement.

She struggled to fill her lungs with air.

His hand suddenly reached down and pulled the blood splattered helmet off her head. Just as he expected, there she was. Her vibrant green eyes glared at him. Her teeth clenched and yet her face was turning a lovely shade of purple from the lack of oxygen.

Now his hand moved up and removed his own helmet. Lisi's look of anger turned to surprise as she looked upon the face of Scharff, the interrogator. He was smiling down at her with sociopathic charm. His armoured finger traced along her cheek. She snapped at it which only made him laugh.

"You look happy to see me," he teased as the fighting continued all around them.

At first she kept silent until he pulled a knife from his tactical compartment.

"Shouldn't you be dead? I didn't exactly want my knife back," she muttered back struggling with her words as he remained on her chest.

He grinned and looked upon her hostile face.

"I graciously spared your life when you were brought to me and yet you put this thing so deep in my gut and left me to die," he told her.

She didn't enjoy this conversation. Fuck, it sure was annoying when they talked it out. More like playing with your dinner before you killed it and served it on a plate.

"We have risen against you. We will be free." she informed.

"No, not a chance," he rebutted as he turned the knife so the blade pointed down.

* * *

Not an hour earlier an exhausted interrogator sat in his bed while listening to the radio in the infirmary. He looked upon the small medicated patch taped to his chest where the wound had been closed. Outside his private room he could hear the snickering of the nurses.

He couldn't make out their words but he found himself far from caring.

"I have never seen him take a woman. Honestly, I think the guy's broken," a long red-haired nurse joked quietly to the other so not to be heard.

"I have tried every kind of flirting and the asshole won't even strike up a conversation," her partner replied as she took out her pony tail and let her soft blonde hair fall to her shoulders. "I have to be more drastic," she added with a devilish smirk.

"You are fucking nuts! Why do you even care? The guy is the scariest prick on the base!" the redhead scorned.

"Oh come on! Have you seen him! He's also the hottest thing on the base. I bet he fucks like an animal too! I want him so bad!" the blonde cooed as she looked over her shoulder. "Wish me luck!"

"I just hope he doesn't try any of his mind games on you..." her friend told her.

The young blonde nurse walked casually in the room where the wounded man lay. Not once did he even glance at her. She picked up his chart and checked the details.

_Captain Scharff_

_Knife wound to the lower abdomen._

_Blah Blah Blah_

"You're improving quickly," she told him.

Nothing. Not even his usual grunt.

"You know, letting someone close wouldn't kill you," she spoke in a soft tone as she strolled up the side of his bed.

Now she had his attention. His dark eyes fell upon her as his brow crinkled. Clearly he was slightly confused. Was she seriously going to try this now?

"Maybe we can see how much you've gotten better," she cooed as she climbed on top of him. She now rested on all fours while he lay beneath her. "I promise not to be gentle if you do," she added with an arched brow and a cocky smile.

At that moment his arm shot up and he grabbed her by the throat. Her eyes went very large as he squeezed tighter and tighter. Her hands flung to claw at his. She tried to yelp but nothing came out.

"You want to play rough? My idea of fun involves cutting out a man's eyes and pulling out his teeth. Then I'll cut him open and teach him all about human anatomy as I display his organs to him one by one. If you're still interested, I can fuck that cunt of yours with the butt stock of my rifle...?" he snapped violently before releasing his grip.

The nurse quickly got off as the tears streamed down her face. She ran out of the room so fast that her friend was nearly knocked over by the fleeing woman. The blonde ran down the hall with her friend chasing after to try and console the her.

Scharff returned to listening to the radio in solitude before he felt the entire room shift slightly.

What the hell had that been?

He stood up on shaky legs and walked to the door peering down the hallway. Chaos unfolded as staff ran to hear the details.

"We're under attack!" Scharff heard a man call out.

That was all he needed to know. He walked nonchalantly out of his room and down the hallway towards the main briefing room.

Sure enough the room was packed with other officers all who looked a little stunned to see him in the doorway. Colonel Keller stopped mid sentence and eyed the young captain.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" he asked in a tone that suggested even he was uncomfortable having Scharff there.

"What's going on?" was all the interrogator said back.

The Colonel motioned for Scharff to sit with the others, which he did.

"We don't have much time," the Colonel began. "The truck that breached our gate was full of explosives. We can now guess as to where those stolen materials went. Looks like the residents are trying some kind of attack. Let's get out there and put a stop to it before too much damage is done. We have absolutely no intel on the matter so get out there and get me someone!"

Scharff rose to his feet and followed the Colonel to the HQ. When he entered he saw the security cameras were busy snapping video of the events just outside the walls.

"So they finally snapped huh?" Scarff muttered.

"It would appear so. More organized then we would have expected too," the Colonel replied. "I expect you to process any detainees we get out of this."

Scharff simply nodded until he caught something that shocked even him. Strange rounds were firing from a building across the street according to one camera view. Rounds from no weapon he had ever seen. Instantly his mind fell on the strange rifle the young woman who stabbed him had possessed.

He watched as the building in which the sniper lay was engulfed in flames thanks to a hellfire trooper. In the back of his mind he just wanted to know if that had been her. His question and curiosity was answered when another camera showed images of an invisible force decimating their numbers.

"Sir, the men are reporting a ... they are calling it a ghost killing our men. Look at camera three," a young lieutenant told the Colonel. He stood next to Scarff who was already forming his own conclusion.

"What the...?" the Colonel wondered.

A twisted grin played on Scharff's face.

"I am going out there, Sir!" he explained. "Oh, and I'll be taking the new prototype Tesla Armour and Cannon with me. You've been telling O'her that your wanted it tested. I'll let you know!" Scharff called out.

"Scharff! You will do no such thing! That weapon and armour haven't been tested fully for human use! I won't risk..."

"Really? You won't risk it? An opportunity to be rid of me?" Scharff mocked.

"You are an intelligence officer. You don't have any place ..."

"You forget I was part of The Rigs Task Force. I think I can go back to my roots for one day," he schooled as he turned and left the HQ bound for the basement armoury.

* * *

She knew what was coming next but suddenly his weight left her chest as Jon's baseball bat collided with Scharff's shoulder. The soldier lost his balance giving Lisi the opportunity to get free and to her feet.

Jon was suddenly upon the man giving her enough time to collect her weapons despite her broken hand.

"Lisi!" Jon called out which forced her to turn suddenly and catch his eye.

"RUN!" he ordered as Scharff managed to grab and throw the man into a lamp post.

She thought he would go to finish Jon off but instead the soldier turned and came charging at her.

She did as Jon ordered and ran. Nothing seemed to sway his attention from her. She tore blindly down narrow alleys trying to lose him in the maze of buildings but he matched her pace despite the heavier armour.

When she emerged back out on the street she was able to get her bearings. Now she had an idea. With him still in hot pursuit she ran as fast as she could for the garage. Soon it just became the two of them on the empty streets. Finally the building came into view. She pretended as if she would go left but made a last second decision to go right.

When she did this she had him fooled. Even he didn't suspect like she had a plan. It simply looked as if she just wanted to find a place where she could lose him. When she ran into the garage, he followed.

She couldn't hide in this place, it was...

FUCK.

Suddenly there were at least three dozen weapons aimed at him. In the darkness he made out her smiling face in the crowd of armed residents.

He thought about taking as many out as he could but before he came to a decision she stepped out and came towards him.

Silently she stood before him, taking his weapon and giving a slight 'this way' nod indicating he was to follow.

His eyes scanned the building. This was indeed their little HQ. Maybe capture wasn't so bad. Once he got free he could report this place and have them all eliminated.

A small group led by the one he heard the man in the street call out as Lisi, lead him over to some old car hoists that rose at least nine feet high and a foot thick. They were thick metal cylinders. With weapons aimed he was ordered to strip. Reluctantly he did as he was told until he was down to his compression performance shirt and pants. They took his armour far away from view. Lisi remained with him as well as several guards.

She took his arms and pulled them back around the hoist and bound him in place. He stood staring at her with cold dark eyes while his arms were pulled back uncomfortably.

"Get comfy. You'll be here a while," she teased as she walked away leaving him in the only lit part of the garage that he could see.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

By morning the following day Scharff was joined by six other Enclave soldiers all of whom were captured in the night. The seven men all stood tethered to the hoists in the garage.

The fighting out in the streets was far from over and yet in the last short hours it had dwindled significantly. Many of the armed residents took to the shelter of nearby buildings offering resistance to incoming patrols who sought to gain back control.

The city had been turned upside down. It couldn't be predicted by either side who ultimately held higher ground.

Jon had returned to the garage sometime in the night pleased to see his expecting wife and Lisi in good health. He remained in the arms of his wife while Lisi rose to attend to their detainees.

"Be careful. Just because they are bound does not make them safe to be near," Jon warned.

Lisi merely nodded as she left the couple to their embrace.

Through the darkness Scharff could hear the light footsteps. He did not stir with emotion when he saw the woman appear in the morning sun's light. He did however, let his eyes fall upon the bandages that wrapped themselves around her broken hand. That was comical.

"You managed to fry my suit. My tech isn't sure if it can be repaired," she said withholding any signs of anger. "You're armour and weapon isn't without intrigue. Never have I seen something like that."

He tugged lightly at his bonds. They were indeed knotted well enough to hold him.

Her eyes fell upon the other men who stood bound to hoists as well.

"Who here holds the highest rank?" she asked.

Their eyes all flashed to Scharff giving their Captain away unknowingly.

"Him?" she asked pointing to the interrogator only to see their eyes fall to the floor.

"I can only assume your highest rank would hold the most information. Is that fair to assume?" she asked now.

Even Scharff was put off by her display. Where the hell was she going with this?

"If he is the highest rank and therefore holds the most information, why should I keep the rest of you alive?" she finally raised and without warning she drew a small axe that had been behind her back all along. There was a piercing scream as Lisi buried the sharp point of the ice axe deep into the soldier furthest to the left's forehead.

Everyone laong the row jumped with alarm and surprise. All but Scharff whose eyes fell hotly on Lisi with deep loathing.

Lisi was a little put off by how difficult it was to rip the axe from the man's skull. She seemed completely unaffected by the brutality of her actions. This was somewhat intriguing to Scharff. In all his training, in all his educating on the psychology of man he knew when he saw the effects of trauma. Even as she appeared devoid of emotion and cruel in nature he could use her greatest strength to her greatest weakness.

Suddenly a man's arms were upon her.

"Lisi! What have you done! Geezus girl, would you look at this mess? We need these men alive!" Jon scorned.

"Why? Only one would carry any useful messages. The rest are just wasted air," she told him.

"They are men regardless and deserve respect."

"Men? These are not men. These are animals. Wait, I like dogs. To call them animals would be an insult to my four-legged friends. They are a viral bacteria with no cause for breath," she spoke harshly.

Jon could see her anguish and she was right to stand by it for everything these men and what they stood for had done to this broken woman.

"I know you're upset and overwhelmed but killing them will not bring your parents back. It will only make the ..."

"DO NOT SPEAK OF MY LIFE IN FRONT OF THESE ASSHOLES!" Lisi roared. Never before had she raised her voice like that to Jon nor was he to cause of such anger.

Scharff glanced up. So, that was the motive. Her life was starting to piece together. The Enclave was somehow responsible for the girl's parent's death. Made sense.

Jon sighed and shook his head.

"I apologize. I was speaking out of line and of things I know little about. Still, I ask that you exercise restraint," he requested.

"I won't kill them if that's what you ask but if I am to /_behave_/ then I will ask one thing," she mumbled.

"What is that?" Jon asked with an arched brow.

"That one," she said pointing to Scharff. "I am to question him personally." She demanded.

At first Jon was hesitant but he succumbed to her hate filled gaze. Whatever her reasons, they were her own and he would oblige.

"Fine, but get some rest. You haven't slept in nearly two days now."

She grumbled as she retired to her a small office like space converted into her bedroom.

Scharff watched her vanish behind the shutting door.

* * *

Some few hours later, Scharff was taken to a small side office and placed in a rickety wooden chair. He was bound tightly to each leg in a seated position to prevent much movement. After a few moments the office door opened and Lisi stepped in.

At first the two looked at each other absent of expression. Finally she began.

This would be interesting, he thought.

"I am not an interrogator," she began. "I am sure you know every trick in the book. It makes things much more difficult for me. You could be leading this and I probably would believe that I had the upper hand. So, let's put it all out there shall we?

My name is Lisi. I am twenty years old. Just celebrated my birthday. I came from Ronto and nearly sixteen years ago my parents were murdered by the Enclave," she told him.

"You're right Lisi. You are not an interrogator. Are you freely giving me information cause I don't think anyone explained to you just how an interrogation works. I am trained well beyond your capable mind. I don't doubt the Enclave killed your parents but what your face told me was that their death isn't the only thing that bothers you. Your actions to skewer my soldier's skull was far too barbaric for such simplistic reasons. Nope, I suspect your anger goes far deeper. Somehow you were hurt far worse. During those years there were many atrocities committed by the Enclave towards the Canadians. Many rapes and brutal beatings. So, tell me? What was it like watching your mother raped and murdered and your father killed as well?"

Lisi tried to keep a straight face but her boiling blood made that almost impossible. She felt her eye twitch and her mouth tighten up.

"Now we have progress. That's quite the shade of red your face just turned. The more we carry on the more you tell me without actually telling me. So it's true. I hit the nail on the head. What bothered you the most? How your dad begged for his life or how your mommy moaned like a whore when they ravaged her?" he asked with a cocky grin.

Lisi stood firm and yet all she wanted was to reach out and jam her thumbs into his eyes.

"Look kid," he began. "If you're expecting any sympathy you won't get it from me. I don't know what you were hoping to accomplish with this little stunt but you look like you're ready to kill me and I feel just fine so I don't think this went too well for you," he concluded as he just looked upon her with a simple gaze.

Without another word Lisi got up and left the office. A few minutes later Scharff could hear shouting from outside. It was muffled but clearly things were a little chaotic beyond the door. When things were quiet once again the office door opened.

He glanced up to see her return but despite his collected features he was slightly disturbed by the sight. She was completely covered in blood. Not a single orifice was left bare from the staining liquid. Her eyes were wide and crazed. In her broken hand was a simple little ice axe and yet in her other hand was the head of two of the other men. The other three were being kicked like soccer balls along the ground into the office.

Behind her Jon was pacing back and forth clearly enraged by what she had done.

"All of them! You had to kill them all! What the fuck?!" he ranted before she shut the door once again so it was just the two of them in the office, unless you counted the heads of the other soldiers.

"Next time you go too far, remember that your words have an outcome," was all she said and left the office. The heads remained on the ground at Scharff's feet.

* * *

That night he was tied back up to the hoist in the pool of blood where his fellow decapitated soldiers remained. It was a gruesome sight and yet it phased him very little. Some of these men he had known. They were good men and deserved better then a shameful end.

He allowed himself to sit in their fluids as he felt his lids get heavy. Sleep eventually came until he felt something tug at his binds from behind. He looked back but it was far too dark to make out the person behind him.

"Ssshh," the soft voice asked.

"There, get out of here. Tell the others where this place is and what you saw," a woman's voice spoke to him. Suddenly his armour and weapon was placed before him. He looked around wondering if this was a trick.

"Go! Hurry!" her voice uttered before her footsteps indicated she had disappeared into the darkness. He suited up silently and placed the helmet over his head. Now he had his night vision to help him through this. As much as it was tempting to flee he knew there was unfinished business to attend to.

He looked at the door where he knew she slept. For the lives of the men, he would take hers. He crept through the garage and ever so slowly opened her bedroom door. Sure enough the white lit body indicated she was there but the night vision was hardly necessary on account of the candle in the corner that gave faint light to the room.

There she lay fast asleep on a makeshift bed in the corner of the small space. A desk was pushed to the side where the small candle stood. He reached over and picked up one of the small ice axes that rested on the desk.

As he neared he hadn't counted on the smell of all the blood on him from sitting in the filth of the other men to rouse her from her sleep. At first her face scrunched but when she opened her eyes he knew he had to act quick.

Her eyes shot open and a wave of panic surged through her body. Instinct kicked in and she flung her hands up to protect herself.

"DAD! PLEASE, NO!" she begged.

This made him hesitate and he dropped one of the ice axes. His free hand covered her mouth instead. Had she seriously just called him her dad? That was weird. Insulting too. He was only 28 years old.

He let the other ice axe go in order to hold both her arms in his hand above her head. He climbed on top holding her more firmly with his body weight.

Even when she thought she was going to drown he never received a look such as this. This was pure terror in its more raw form. Her head attempted to thrash from side to side. Never had she shed a tear and yet now he could see them collect in her eyes.

Now he found himself in a tricky position. He couldn't release her hands and yet he had to remove the one off her mouth. If he released her, she would scream. He looked around the room for anything he could use to muffle her. Nothing came to view.

Once again his eyes fell onto her horrified face. Every time he brought death just inches from her face she would look upon him with respect and understanding and yet now she squirmed to be free. Why the change?

For a single second he let reason slip from his mind as he slid his hand slightly off her mouth. She did not scream or yell for aid. She remained beneath him just sobbing.

"Why are you doing this? All this time you ask me to call you father as you think of me your daughter and now you come to torture me further? Haven't you done enough?" she blubbered.

He was silent as he tried to interpret what the hell this all meant.

As an interrogator he had heard and seen it all but something like this was only taught to him through notes. Even those notes were vague with little experience on the matter. She was completely delusional from circumstances far beyond his knowledge.

The soldier in him knew she was a danger and to snuff her life but the psychologist in him yearned to know more.

Lisi's heart beat faster than it ever had. There was no mistaking the armoured man who held her to her bed. This couldn't be a dream now. It felt too real in every way.

Haynes was here. This was him. The armour clad man finally came to finish what he started so many years ago. As he took the life of her mother in the most gruesome way he now would take her own in the manner he had grown accustom. Tonight she was far removed from daughter. She was a collaborating whore as her mother had been in his eyes.

Even after all he had done she couldn't believe he was capable of this. For the first time since she brought the matter of her parents before him, she wished for him to see her as the girl he raised. As his daughter and as hard as she tried she could not look at him as anything else but her father. This is not what fathers did. They did not rape their daughters.

Scharff did something next to see how it would affect her. He was fully prepared to end her life if he felt himself losing control over the situation. He reached up and removed his helmet.

It was life she had been stunned once again by the electrified currents of his weapon. Lisi fell completely silent and in awe.

This was not Haynes. He was not the man who raised her. At first she didn't know what to make of him until recognition swam into her mind.

Her breathing was accelerated as blood rushed to her face. She wasn't angry or scared she was now utterly embarrassed. She didn't question how he got free or what he was doing. She looked completely defeated by the entire ordeal he put her through.

Without knowing he brought a whole new wave of conflicting emotion to her. He couldn't imagine the damage done to her already weakened mind. So much uncertainty regarding how she felt about everything that had wronged her.

When she came to terms with the fact that she had to reevaluate everything from her past, she focused on the matter that Scharff now held her in his grasp. Now she had to switch off everything that just happened and get control of this situation.

"How did you escape?" she demanded.

"Why did you call me your Dad?"

"That is none of your business," she snapped trying to direct this conversation back to the real issue here.

"Your Dad was part of the Enclave?" he asked.

"If you don't get off and allow me to confine you peacefully then I will scream. Kill me if you like but I guarantee they will come and kill you before you can finish cutting my throat," she promised.

"What did he do to you?" Scarff asked more intrigued. She was the most interesting 'patient' he even had.

"Your fascination with me is quite unnerving and unwelcome."

"Put aside what we are and simply tell me."

"No."

"I haven't killed you yet. That must count for something."

"Your actions count very little to me."

"Are you scared that I may be the only person who can actually understand what it is you're keeping in?"

"It doesn't scare me. It's very annoying."

"So you admit I would know what you're going through."

She hesitated. Fuck, she didn't mean it like that.

"I am going to scream," she told him.

"No you're not. If you were going to you would have done so in the first place but I think you want to confide in me because you don't see me like you see all the others. You see someone as twisted and fucked up as yourself and maybe perhaps I have my reasons just as you do and that plays to your curiosity."

"I think you're a little more fucked up than me."

"I wasn't the one who played butcher shop with the lives of good men."

"They were not men. They were part of the Enclave."

"And now we reach the starting point of your anger. Why so much hatred towards the Enclave? You know you want to tell me."

"I know I really don't, so get the fuck off me."

"This isn't the first time I saw you break down. I recall the last time I held you beneath me. Something switched in you and suddenly you turned from femme fatale to terrified child," he pointed out.

"I think your reading too much into it."

"Maybe so but every time I read into something I am always right. It's what I do," Scharff charmed.

She glared at him in the faint light of the burning candle.

"Why do you care? You're going to kill me anyways," Lisi concluded.

"True, but perhaps you could appeal to my better nature and clear your mind before I kill you."

"You think I would pour my heart out to someone such as you?"

"I think you would," he said as he suddenly grabbed both her wrists, one in each hand and lifted them over her head. The very position he held her by when she fist freaked out on his own bedroom floor days ago. It was risky to be in this position. If she screamed, he wouldn't be able to release her to cover her mouth.

She turned away from him. How easily she gave it all away.

"See? This bothers you. Why?" It wasn't that hard to figure out. She was powerless beneath the weight of a man. How many other women had tragically been in this situation before?

Her face twitched but she refused to give up any information.

"Get off of me," she demanded.

"Just tell me."

At that moment she turned to face him. With his hands holding hers he could not muffle her yell. With everything she had she let out a scream that filled the room. For a split second he was stunned she would do such a thing. He thought certainly he had gotten a bit more hold on her but clearly he went too far now and the comfort was gone.

He did the only thing he could do when her voice carried out. He pressed his mouth to hers to muffle her screams.

At first this was a bigger shock then his Tesla Cannon but the wheels in her mind turned thinking how she could use this to her advantage. He himself was quiet after all, so long as his mouth was busy.

It had worked. The screams were muffled as she returned his kiss. It was quite amusing how easily she gave herself in to him. He suspected that deep down she wanted him.

Lisi would keep this act up until she could turn the tables more in her favour. She somehow had to restrain him once again. Just as she had done so with Weeds she let her body play its part in this.

How she threw herself upon him was enough to make him laugh but he kept the chuckle in. Women were all the same. They liked to have a man try and tame them. They all liked to feel like they were desired yet unattainable until they last deciding moment. She was no different. He met her fiery embrace with his own so not to give away his true intentions of getting through to her. To further gain insight to use against her and crush this pathetic rebellion.

Men were all sick, sexual beings who only lusted to have their satisfaction met by a young cunny. If she gave him that he would be more easy to play with. She pulled her mouth away from his as her soft lips traced along his jaw line.

If this was work then there was no harm in enjoying your job even a little. His hands released her wrist and focused more on her middle region as it explored her bust through the black tank top she wore to bed that night. His tongue traced along her neck and nipped at the skin feeling her throat vibrate with a soft moan.

Her small hand traced down the heavy armour that still in cased his body. Suddenly he pulled her to sit on his lap while he let her hands explore the armour and find its release. Sure enough it fell off his chest and he tossed it to the ground. Now his bare fingers felt her warm flesh at their tips.

He grasped her firm ass in his hands and lifted her off the bed. She moved weightlessly in his arms as he pressed her up against the wall. Her legs wrapped around his torso as their mouths once again swallowed each other's He allowed her hands to further reach for the release of the armoured lower half of his suit. The armour fell away now leaving him in nothing but the performance under gear he wore beneath.

She just about had him.

As he took one of her supple breasts in his mouth her eyes fell beyond him to the armour on the floor. She removed her legs from around his waist and pulled him down to the floor. He didn't protest when she climbed on top and kissed him deeply letting her tongue find his own and match its movement. His hands carved their way up her sides. It was a sharp yet skin melting action that made her twitch. His mouth pulled away from her and she felt his teeth graze across her neckline. When he felt her soft shoulder he bit down quite harshly.

She yelped but denied him the satisfaction in believing he had harmed her. Even as his teeth embedded in her flesh she pressed her hips into his feeling his hard cock grind against her.

One hand reached down his sculpted abs which brought about a small cringe from him.

"Is this part of the interrogation?" she cooed quietly but her mocking question was cast aside by his firm hand under her neck as his finger traced along her chin.

Her hand continued to wander down his middle until it reached the elastic waistband of his pants. His eyes shut as he took in the feeling of her soft hands drawing ever closer to his swelling cock. There was no harm in enjoying a little of this.

While she held his attention there her free hand felt for the Tesla Armour and its compartments. She opened the first only to feel medical equipment. The second had more ammunition. Finally the third contained the detainee cuffs she required. Silently she slipped them out.

She lay on top to keep his attention focused only on her while she tried with just one hand to place the metal cuffs around the frame of her bed. It took a moment but silently the metal contacted with its lock and one cuff was secure to her frame. Now she just needed one hand.

She moved both hands now to his waist line and began to nip at the band. His eyes opened as he looked upon her.

How primal she looked wanting to take something she knew she shouldn't. Why deny her what she wants? The more he gave her the more he knew he could take in the end.

She began to kiss up his chest focusing on spots that made him twitch for a split second. Even the toughest men had their spots. She continued her caress up his chest and to his shoulder. She took his right arm and pulled it over his head as both hands held it. Her fingers clawed down his biceps as she bit at his clavicle. He groaned not from force but from feeling her touch send a slight wave of ecstasy through his body.

How he loved his job.

Suddenly he felt cold metal around his wrist. When he tugged he couldn't come free. His eyes suddenly shot to the cuff around his wrist.

FUCK!

She jumped off him and looked at his face with calm eyes.

He breathed out knowing that once again, she had him.

He had been completely wrong about her wanting him. She had been using his own trick against him. He had been such an idiot to believe she was capable of such feelings. Poor bitch was going to die slowly for this stunt.

Neither of them spoke a word. He remained seated on the ground at the corner of her bed even as she packed his armour under her desk and his any trace that they had done anything else.

She stood up and looked at him with no smile or sneer.

"If you value your life you will go along with what I tell them," she ordered. She was panting.

"What makes you think I value my life?" he asked.

"Maybe before I kill you, you can help me out."

His brow arched.

So long as she now held the power she felt comfortable enough speaking with him on this level. He was part of the Enclave and yet, as he had asked, she viewed him as her equal for the time being.

"I watched as two Enclave soldiers dragged my father into the streets and shot him while waving to a camera. They then came for my mother not knowing that her four year old daughter had been alerted to the noise and now stood watching as the men took their turn with the child's mother before setting their gun on the mother's head. She did not moan like a whore," Lisi told him. Not even Canine had been told this.

He allowed a weak smile to play across his mouth. Something that would express sympathy and understanding even if he didn't feel it.

So it had worked after all. He now had his in to her mind and troubles. So she had fallen for him.

Lisi had recaptured the man and kept her own life. She believed Scharff felt a deeper connection with her that she herself didn't feel entirely.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Earlier, Jon had taken Scharff back to the hoist and tied him more securely. Jon believed Lisi's story that she had found the prisoner going through her desk when she came back from using the washroom. He surrendered when she caught him in the act which is why he was handcuffed to the bed.

The soldier had remained seated on the ground for several long hours before Lisi approached him to deliver some rations and purified water.

Jon had seen to it that the blood from the man's fallen comrades had been cleaned and their bodies removed. The smell had been starting to bother some of the others.

Jon watched from afar to make sure Lisi didn't beat the prisoner senseless. Shockingly she sat down beside the Scharff and actually appeared to be talking to the man. Jon knew about Scharff and what he had done in his career. Jon had his own reasons to see the interrogator die a slow and painful death but he would not pull Lisi away from someone she actually conversed with. Whatever her reasons they were her own so Jon went to his office to plan the days attacks.

"You're the ones who attacked us. I don't know what kind of information you hope to gain from me," Scharff muttered as the young woman sat beside him.

Lisi just chuckled which received a slight sneer from Scharff. She noticed his slightly flushed face and a bead of sweat trickling down his cheek.

"I know," she replied as she opened the ration package and pulled out a spoonful of curry chicken circa 2089. She offered him the food which he grimaced at and flatly rejected. Shrugging off his distaste for the meal she ate it herself.

"I wouldn't even know what to ask," she added as she looked back to him. "I haven't exactly been a driving force behind a war before. Can't say I really know what I am doing," she concluded as she took a few more bites to finish the pouch.

"I spy with my little eye, something that is black," Scharff suddenly proclaimed.

She looked at him oddly.

"What?" she questioned.

"Come on..."

"Is this one of your little mind tricks?" she asked.

"Could be but I am actually just bored and when your hands are tied behind your back and all you have are your eyes and mouth then this was the best game I could come up with."

"I never liked your games," Lisi murmured.

"This one's more fun," he reassured.

Lisi sighed and looked around the garage.

"Everything is fucking black," she mumbled.

"You win! See? I told you this was a better game!"

She smirked and even made the slightest chuckle under her breath. It was now she noticed he appeared to be getting more red in the face. It wasn't that hot in here and yet he was sweating a little more.

"Alright, you try," he told her and her mind lifted from the subject.

She shook her head.

"Come on. Didn't you play this game when you were a kid?" he asked

"Like this garage, there wasn't exactly a whole lot of colour in and underground research base," she explained. Suddenly her eyes flashed to him.

"I said no fucking mind tricks!" she snarled.

"Relax!" he reacted defensively. "It was just a game. You willingly told me something about yourself without me even hinting to anything."

"You do this for a living. Pretend, lie, and terrify. It's all part of your act to get information," she snapped.

"Just last night you asked for my help," he mentioned.

"Lapse of judgement. I don't need help from an Enclave prick like you."

Well this was an unwelcome yet expected change of pace. She had once again put up her defences. He would need to somehow break through again.

"I am not asking you to fucking trust or like me. Geez, you're more wound up then a God damn Felis in heat!" he expressed as his temper showed through. "I don't have to hear a single fucking word you say if I don't want to and yet here I am actually willing to give you time of day!"

"Red!" she called out which startled him.

"Red?"

"Yeah. Something red," she offered trying to indulge him a little.

"I am sorry I don't understand," he teased trying to coax it out of her.

She sighed and sat down at a reasonable distance but close enough so things could be within earshot.

"I spy with my little eye, something that is red," she grumbled.

His eyes began to look around the garage but nothing stood out appearing to be red in colour.

"Are you sure you know how to play this game?" he asked.

She gave him a quirky smirk. Playful and yet not harassing.

"Give up?" she asked.

"No!" he shot back at her as his eyes continued to survey the room. "Fuck alright I give up!"

She grinned and looked casually over her shoulder scanning the room to make sure no one was around to see. She pulled the neckline of her shirt over her shoulder for him to see the deep red teeth marks risen on her sleek neck.

He gave a strident "HA!" when he saw the mark which proceeded with heavy coughing for a moment.

Lisi was no longer smirking as her mind was drawn back to his immense sweating and the fact that red seemed to have been replaced with a pale pigment.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked as she approached with extreme caution.

"I am fine!" he snapped back but his attitude followed by more coughing. His tearing eyes gave away much more than his defiant words as he struggled to breath as the coughs turned to heaving.

"Fuck off," she retorted as she now stood looking at him more closely noting his now ashen complexion. As she drew near she could feel the heat emanating off the man's body.

"Geezes you're on fire," she explained as she saw the man turn from sociopath to needy child. He could barely focus his eyes on her as she called for someone to come over.

Jon was right behind her and saw that their prisoner was in very rough shape.

"Untie him!" Jon ordered but Lisi barked back a firm,

"NO."

Jon looked her with a puzzling query as to why she was being so inconsiderate. Just moments ago they had been talking but like a light switch, she remained off the idea to aid an ailing man.

Lisi glared at Scharff contemplating whether or not this would be the way he left this world.

"Lisi," Jon began. "I think it's time you embrace a gentler side and see this man for what he is. We all have our reasons to hate but what makes us proud Canadians is the foundation our ancestors lay by shaping our kind nature. When those are in need of aid we do not withhold. We do unto others as we would have them do unto us."

"Even if they don't deserve it?" she asked.

"Especially in those cases. How else do we set the world right?"

With that she leaned over and untied the man from his binds. Jon carried him to their makeshift infirmary and lay him on the wooden table. Lisi was right there as the Enclave soldier was tied down just in case. She took the scissors in her hand and came towards Scarff. Jon raised a hand protesting her help but she moved him aside.

"If I can keep him alive to torture him more later then I'll do it" she assured the older man.

Jon allowed her to continue but stood at her side just in case she turned from medic to executioner.

She began to cut away at Scharff's shirt when she saw what no doubt was causing his failing health. The wound in his abdominal wall was open and filled with pus. She could smell the infection as it filled the room with sickly pungent odour which nearly brought tears to her eyes from its defiling.

She had seen far worse back when she lived with the Cavers but this was not without its degree of difficulty. The wound needed to be opened up further, cleaned and closed up. He would need antibiotics for quite some time just to fend off any more infection.

Jon watched as the young woman set about doing what she had to do in order to save the man's life even with a banged up hand. He was proud to see her express some compassion for a fellow human being even if she only did it to inflict more pain down the road to the soldier. When she was finished, she redressed the wound and began to clean her tools.

"You did a good thing," Jon assured her.

"Whatever," was her only reply.

He left the room feeling he could trust her not the kill the soldier so long as he asked that of her.

Scharff lay on the bed in his chemically induced inebriated sleep. She watched him for a moment checking his dressings to make sure they were holding up and keeping an eye on his vitals. Back at Fort Orleans, Doc Felm had always told her that a patient was like a child. You watch them until they can leave the home. In this case, the office with a red cross painted on the door.

If there was one thing she was proud of herself for, it was her medical abilities. Perhaps it was the captivating feeling of holding someone's life in your hand or the grime of it all. Either way she enjoyed doing it. She found it almost relaxing.

Every hour or so she would return to check him over. Well into the night she kept an eye on him to make sure he did not regress into a violent fever once more. At some point in the night she returned to see his eyes open and staring at her with a silent speculation.

Neither he nor she spoke a word to the other. Their faces were devoid of sentiment yet their minds were a blur of thought that was shielded from the other due to their silence. Ever so slowly she walked over to his side wondering if she should do this by herself and yet, she still reached for the nylon ropes that held him to the table.

He needed to be able to move for a moment in order to give his body a rest from the star position and allow for better circulation. He was still a threat but if he valued his life he wouldn't dare move beyond simple gestures or risk opening the wound up making infection and death inevitable. When she untied him, he rose slowly still keeping a watchful eye on her and any trick she may carry.

They way she watched him suggested the same vigilance being exercised.

"Keep still. Try not to move around too much. You should start to feel much better in a day or two," she told him like a typical doctor to patient way.

"Seems kind of ironic that you did this and yet here you are patching it up," his chilling words carried to her ears.

"I can't say I am not without disappointment. I thought I was better skilled with a knife," she told him as she placed pills in a small baggy. "I can't believe Jon is letting you have some of our supplies but he seems to think you're more valuable alive than I do."

He stood off the table which forced her to back a step away and turn to him.

"Sit back down," she ordered but he remained standing. She moved towards him with the ropes but he caught her still bruised hand in his own and held it at her side. He didn't move against her or aggravate her more. He simply stood facing her with a blank expression that hid any kind of feelings he had.

She breathed deeply through her nose as she stood before him closer then they ought to be. He held her hand firmly and she felt the ropes slide through her fingers. She was so close that his breath mixed with her own and the warmth caressed her cheek. Feeling all premonition cast aside she raised her chin and leaned into him to have their mouths meet but when she was just an inch away he turned away from her, bent down and picked up the ropes placing them back in her hand.

She looked down seeing the yellow nylon once again in her grasp and let out a deep breath. He looked down at her but she couldn't bring herself to match his gaze. This was humiliating. The asshole continued to toy with her even after she saved his life.

As the seconds drew on she found herself utterly embarrassed and yet glad he had turned away. It just brought back her earlier assumptions that the Enclave are worthless vile creatures who don't deserve to share this Earth. She felt weak and vulnerable for even hinting at affection for him.

He was loving this. It was so fucking easy to get this bitch to fall for him. She just about swooned over him and yet he denied her. Keep them wanting more. Even now if he chose to act on her impulses she would still have him and yet he withheld all physical connection between them. He could see how it pissed her off and that just made him smile. She wasn't as tough shit as she thought she was. She was still a chick who wished for that happily ever after. It was pretty pathetic.

"Turn the fuck around!" she bitterly scoffed as she bound his hands and just about dragged him from the infirmary. She didn't speak another word to him as she tied him back to the hoist.

"Feels nice to have normal feelings for once I bet?" he asked keeping a straight face as he pestered her.

"Don't speak to me," she replied coldly.

A twisted smirk played across his face as she bound his hands tighter than ever before to the hoist.

"Look, you..."

"No, you look," she began cutting off his words. "I really didn't give a shit if you lived through that surgery. I have never given a fucking fuck about you. Contrary to what you may think, I think you are the by-product of an organization who preys on the weak and finds sick comfort in the brutal betrayal of anything ethical. There is a huge difference between you and me. I do things because I do it to survive and see the survival of those I feel are deserving of life. You do it because it amuses you above all else. You love to feel the fear course through a person's body as you victimize them for sick pleasure all the while compensating for the lack of spirit in your life and self-worth. If you had any kind of courage in you, you'd have off'ed yourself a long time ago but let's face it, you just couldn't swallow that many pills."

The grin was wiped clean from his face as he caught her cruel stare.

What the fuck had that been? Never before had anything anyone ever said to him get under his skin. No one had ever had the nerve to talk to him in such away for they were all outright terrified of him and yet here she was, calling it out like she saw it.

"I didn't know my parents either," he tried.

"I really don't fucking care," she snapped back and walked back off into the dark garage leaving him there by himself.

* * *

Jon and a few others took turns the following day checking on Scharff and ensuring his wounds were healing properly on their own. Scharff's first attempt to ask where Lisi had disappeared to was received and replied with a scowl from the old man and the dropping of half his daily rations. After that, he didn't ask any more questions.

He saw her once emerge from her room only to speak with Jon for a moment, then return to her room without once gazing up at him. That bitch sure could hold a grudge. As the night wore on he found himself increasingly bored and by his lonesome tied to the hoist with no comfort to ease his limbs.

When the sun had long set he gave up on staying awake and closed his eyes expecting another boring day. With any luck – he just wouldn't wake up.

* * *

The sound of the propeller blades stirred him from his sleep rather suddenly. The entire garage was in utter panic as the screams carried out through the darkness.

"They have found us!" came the terrified cries of those in the derelict building. A blinding white light shone down and cast its beam through the boarded up windows. The terror was amplified when incendiary grenades managed to find themselves through the barricades and into the building igniting the dried out debris within.

Everyone was making their way towards the back of the garage where no doubt an escape route was located.

"Jon!" her voice carried out over the screams.

The old man was aiding his wife through the thick smoke when he heard Lisi call to him.

"Come on!" The man yelled but Lisi remained in place. Scharff watched in confusion as she carried her Gauss Rifle firmly, backing away from the fleeing group.

"Where are you going?" Jon demanded.

"Get the others out! You will need time to escape!" she informed.

"Are you fucking nuts! Get your ass in that tunnel and..."

"You will not have enough time! You'll all be caught if I don't do this!"

Deep down Jon knew she was right still, if anyone had a chance to live through something as suicidal, it was her. Finally he gave in with a curt nod and turned with his wife towards the escape tunnels.

At first Lisi appeared to forget Scharff was there entirely. The flames licked up the building as the roaring helicopter loomed above. She looked over to see Scharff still tied to the hoist looking absent minded to everything going on around him. How could he be so calm?

When he saw her give him that sinful stare he knew the wheels were turning in her mind as she rushed towards him.

Without hesitation she raised the rifle and aimed it at his head.

"So this is it huh?" he asked without giving her any kind of plea.

"I can't let you live. You have seen too much. If they get you back you will only be a liability to us," she spoke back with sincerity.

"Well, it's been," he paused. "Really fucking annoying actually."

She couldn't help but smirk as she leaned forward into her rifle but as she held her ground she wavered for a moment.

He was looking right at her the same way so many others had but this was different. He wasn't afraid or begging her to stop. He was completely stone faced and awaiting his death.

1 Second.

2 Seconds.

3 Seconds.

Suddenly there came a crash through the roof that made her jump. She knew the Enclave soldiers had breached the roof and were now zip lining down to the garage floor.

In a fraction of a second all guns were drawn on her as their voices carried out, demanding she put the rifle down.

She looked over the scope at Scharff who remained absent of fear.

Her lip twitched and she felt her hands get more sweaty. She wasn't sure if it was the heat or the tension that caused this sensation.

The soldiers demands swelled in her mind before she finally lowered the rifle. At this moment she realized Scarff had been holding his breath the entire time for he breathed a sigh of relief.

In an instant she was surrounded, thrown to the ground and placed in cuffs. There was no absence of violence as the soldiers exercised their right to beat down on the enemy.

When they finally pulled her to her feet Scarff could see the monster return to her for her eyes looked as though they could kill on their own. He looked over his shoulder as another soldier cut him loose. He followed the prisoner as she was escorted out to an awaiting Vertibird. Another team remained behind to search the now smouldering garage.

A blindfold was put over her eyes as she was pushed into the aircraft feeling it lift from the ground a moment later.

Though the blindfold blocked her sight, she could still hear over the roar of the engine.

"How are you Captain?" one soldier asked. Scharff's voice was quick to respond.

"I need a fucking Scotch."


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Death would have been a far better out then what she was going through in this hell. With her actions the night of the attacks she painted a target on herself for brutal beatings for anyone with a grudge.

She lost track of the days as the black outs and the brutality blurred into a mix of time. It was only when she heard two men speak of some high ranking asshole on the way did the beatings cease.

"He's coming here?" asked one soldier at some time on some day.

"Apparently. Wants to see what a disaster this entire operation has become. Wants to speak the prisoner himself. See if he can get anything out of her since Scharff has been given some time off," the other replied.

That had been the only words spoken in front of her for quite some time.

The young woman remained bound to a cell like the one she had been in before. This time she was allowed light but that didn't make the place any more home like.

Other than to pass on her required meals she was cut off from any human contact for an extensive period. Finally her alienation ceased when she was dragged from her cell and taken to a large screening room. Scharff stood in the corner but another man sat in a chair across from another empty chair and a table dividing them.

She was forced to sit and chained to the floor for everyone's protection.

Scharff barely recognized the emaciated female sitting in the small chair. She was bruised and beaten however, there still remained a small spark in her eye like if she was given the chance, she would tear out a man's throat.

She refused to acknowledge Scharff was even in the room. Her attention was focused on the man sitting across the table from her.

"Good morning," the man spoke. There was something she couldn't place about this man. His salt and pepper hair gave him the appearance of age and wisdom yet she felt like he was a man of paper and pens versus combat. His eyes showed he was afraid of her despite the chains that bound her to the floor. He found it hard to match her gaze.

"I am Colonel Keller," he informed. He fidgeted with his pen and he would bite at his bottom lip while he spoke.

"This is our first meeting so let's try to keep things on the formal side, alright?" he asked.

Now her eyes went to Scharff as if silently asking him, 'really?'

"I know you are familiar with my Chief of Interrogation, Captain Scharff but there are some questions I would like to ask you more directly," he spoke solemnly.

Suddenly there was a knock at the glass behind them. The reflective piece appeared as a mirror image but she knew it was a clear window from the other side.

"Here so soon?" Keller explained as he rose from the seat. Lisi didn't check over her shoulder as the door opened and heavy footsteps made their way across the floor. "General! It's a pleasure having you hear this morning. I trust your travel arrangements were alright?" the Colonel asked. "I must admit I was a little surprised when someone such as yourself expressed an interest in what has been going on these last couple weeks but given your background it is certainly a pleasure to have you."

"I will need a moment alone with her," the new man suddenly ordered.

Upon hearing his voice her head wiped around to see the man behind it. Her ears did not deceive her as her eyes confirmed her suspicion. Haynes stood in the room looking at the Colonel and not daring to turn his attention away. He was here. This was him. Everyone else saw him too. Her mouth dropped and all the blood rushed out of her face.

Scharff only looked at the General for a moment, extended his respectful salute then turned his eyes on Lisi seeing her ghost like features. His brow arched. What was so fucking special about a General?

"Son?" Haynes broke Scharff's stare as he motioned for the man to leave. Scharff hesitated. He didn't want to be shut out but he followed the order with the Colonel.

"I'll be just outside this door if you need me, Sir," Scharff offered but the General ignored this. When the men left he made an evident motion to go over to the intercom and turn it off.

Outside the door but still able to see Scharff and the Colonel both protested this action to themselves.

"Fuck, I have no idea what they are saying!" the Colonel said most displeased.

"This must be a bit of a shock," Haynes began as he sat across from her.

She was completely silent so he went on.

"When the reports reached my desk that the city of Vancouver was in chaos I opened the file and sure enough there was a picture and a holotape with you as the feature. Saw you ripping through good men with the suit you stole and some crafty pieces of metal," he told her. "I also see the Gauss Rifle was of some use to you."

"Why have you come?" she finally broke her silence.

"This is serious, kiddo."

"Don't call me that."

"All matters aside you could be executed for this. They want to make an example of you. I don't know how I can get you out of this without revealing what I am to you."

"So let them. You and I have no connection to one another."

"Sweetie, I..."

"Don't call me that."

Haynes sighed.

"You might be alright with that but I will not see you put up on a pole for target practice," he explained.

"You relinquished your right to protect me when you stole me from my parents."

"For one fucking moment will you see that I am trying to help you!" he snapped.

Scharff and Keller both exchanged a look from outside. They couldn't hear but clearly the General had just lost his temper a bit.

"I didn't ask you to come here and fight my battles for me," she reminded him quite monotone.

"No. No you didn't and yet here I am. Do you know what kind of risks I am taking just being here? If they were to find out I could lose everything and I am willing to risk that just to keep you safe."

"Why do you keep trying to make me see you for the hero you think you are? I don't know what goes on in your head but I will never forgive you nor will I ever hold you in any esteem. You are a liar and a murderer and if anyone deserves to be put on a pole and used for target practice, it's you," she told him with the bitter words flowing off her tongue.

His shoulders slumped forwards. Clearly that had hurt. For a second she thought she could see the light reflecting tears forming in his eyes but he could not bring himself to look at her.

"I am not asking for you to forgive me or call me your father but I am asking that you let me help you."

"And what about the other residents? What will you do for them? Will you call back the men here and let the Canadians go about their lives free from your control?" she asked.

He sighed.

"I don't have the authority," he informed.

"Then you can't help me."

"Sweetie, I..." he caught his words before she could snap at him again. "I heard them calling you Lisi. Is that your name?" he asked.

"It was the name my parents gave me."

"I like it. I would have left it."

"You have no idea the damage your government has done to this country. I walked nearly half the area and saw what has become of it. The Ghouls in Ronto are friendly but apparently Ottawa has gone to shit. The entire area has been devastated by a war they wanted nothing to do with and yet they have suffered almost greater losses. Now you insist on causing them more pain with this forced labour."

"But the Enclave does so much good. We ensure the safety for all those who are deserving..."

"Deserving? You mean you Americans."

"I didn't mean it like that."

"How will you cover this up? How will you get them to release me? What are the terms you offer them? I have killed a lot of your men. I did it without shame or remorse and given the opportunity, I will kill as many more as I can."

"I'll bring you back to Orleans. Get you help..."

"Help! What makes you fucking think I need help! You had me popping pills for my entire life trying to keep me sedated so I wouldn't learn the truth or question my behaviour!" she yelled as she fought her chains.

At that moment Scharff was through the door.

"Did I ask for you to...?" Haynes began.

"NO! Let him stay!" Lisi interrupted.

Scharff stood with an uncertain expression.

"I am sorry, Sir I just wasn't sure if you were about to be in any kind of danger," Scharff tried.

"I am fine," the General spoke back bitterly.

"Let him hear all this," Lisi brought up. "Don't worry, General. I won't say too much."

The General gave her a narrowed look but nodded that Scharff could stay. Behind the glass the Colonel was just pissed.

"Where have the other residents gone?" Haynes asked.

"I don't know," she replied.

"What are the terms you seek?"

"I want the Enclave to pack up and get the hell out of my country."

"That can't be."

"Then a lot more of your men are going to die."

"Lisi, this is foolish you need..."

"I don't need to do anything. You will execute me as your organization sees fit. Then you will watch as your base burns with everyone inside."

"I do not take well to threats."

"No? Then you won't like this one. When I am dead, I will haunt you for the rest of your life. You took everything away from me and continue to tear at my soul. Your misconception of riotous has masked the horror you unleash upon everyone you think you're helping. You're like a parasite feeding off those just trying to make it. If I could, I would reach across this table and strangle you with that snappy tie around your neck..." She paused "... Though..."

Suddenly there was a violent crushing sound and blood splashed from her hands as she literally ripped her hands from the cuffs taking off whatever skin prevented her from removing herself from their confines. She lunged across the table towards the General when Scharff suddenly wrapped his arms around her before she reached him.

Haynes fell back out of his chair seeing Scharff wrestle with the girl.

"Don't hurt her!" he ordered but the orders slipped through the interrogators ears as he pulled the girl out of the room back towards her cell. When he finally dragged her back in he shut the two of them in.

"What the fuck! Calm the fuck down! Look at yourself!" he told her as he still held her tightly in a bear hug.

"I'll fucking kill him! I want him dead! I want him burned alive so I can spit on his ashes!" she screamed as tears streamed down her face. The only time he saw her like this is when he held her down in a way that triggered these kinds of psychotic episodes.

"What the hell is wrong with you? All he did was talk to you and you're freaking out like never before," Scharff questioned as he pulled her to the ground to try and gain a weight advantage on her. He lay on top of her as she squirmed and kicked with everything she had. She couldn't breathe, she was dry heaving so badly. Finally after a couple minutes she relaxed and he leaned up off her sitting with his back against the wall while she lay and sobbed on the floor.

It took another few moments for her to collect herself. She looked over seeing Scharff staring at her as he sat on the floor.

"Sit," he told her as he patted the spot beside him. She pulled herself up and over to him sitting without uttering any crude remark.

He was more curious that anything to know what caused the meltdown just now. She had lost her shit entirely and for reasons unknown.

"So, that was ... interesting. What did he say to you?" he asked.

"Nothing you would understand."

"We are both Enclave soldiers. I am sure I will understand."

"This doesn't concern you or the Enclave."

"Try me."

"Why do you fucking care all of a sudden? Every time I give you any smidge of a chance you use it against me or have some hidden agenda. You're the master of deceit. Why the fuck should I share anything with you?"

"I don't have an answer for you."

"That's the other thing! You have a thousand and one mind games and I can never tell what is real and isn't. I am better off just not trying!"

"Probably."

She huffed as the frustration with him grew in her once again.

He really didn't 'care' per se, he just wanted to know what made this chick tick. She was the most fascinating mind he had come across in all his years and to understand her meant he was a genius at figuring out the human mind. He could see her temper flaring so he tried a different route.

"My god look at your hands!" he suddenly exclaimed when he noted the growing pool of blood on the floor by her feet which were tucked up into her chest.

She didn't even notice that she had peeled most of the skin off her hands from when she pulled them from the cuffs. It didn't hurt, not yet at least. He took off his uniform shirt and ripped it in two. He reached out for her hands which she allowed. He wrapped each hand up noting their new mitten like appearance.

While he wrapped them her eyes wandered down his body to the wound on his stomach still dressed the way she had done it.

"Guess were even," she mumbled.

He looked down at his own abdomen.

"Not by a long shot," he rebutted.

"You could have just gone to get some bandages."

"And lose this opportunity to take off my shirt and rip it up?"

She chuckled a little but his face still remained stone like.

He held her hands tightly to keep the pressure on and stop the bleeding.

"It seemed like the General doesn't want to see you executed. Did he try and make a deal with you?" he asked.

"Terms I cannot adhere to."

"Even if it means your life?"

"You of all people should know I don't care much for it."

"I think you do."

"Well I don't care what you think."

"He must have asked something horrible for you to speak to him as you did. Really, I mean, set on fire and spit on his ashes? Even I don't get such joy from you."

"He asks too much..." she began but the tears began to form in her eyes again.

"Whoa. What now? Come on, you used to be hard as fuck. What is this? I am kind of creeped out. Did he demand sexual favours?" he asked which seemed to really strike a nerve with her.

Shit did he guess it?

"Why did he come here!" she asked fighting back the tears.

"He was the only General who responded to our distress. Despite being on the other side of the U.S. he demanded to have travel arrangements met so that he could be here within the week," Scharff gave up knowing it didn't mean much.

"Fucking asshole," she mumbled.

Scharff had no idea how to console a PMSing female.

"You said it yourself. You would take the execution. I would think you had thicker skin to dismiss such petty advances. You're kind of letting me down here," he commented.

"You're a fucking idiot you know that?" she snapped at him.

That was a little uncalled for given that he had just wrapped her hands and for the first time was playing the nice card.

"Well then what the fuck? I torture you and break you down over weeks and this guy talks with you for five minutes and he has your fucking panties in a knot?"

"Is that why you are taking this so personal? Because you feel he matched you in a battle of wits over who can make me crack!"

Shit, this was going badly.

"If you are so worried about your ego then fine! I will damage it more so! Yeah, he did a fucking fantastic job at breaking me. I don't think you could ever do what that man did. He single handily destroyed a nation, destroyed a family, and destroyed the life of an innocent girl!" she cried out.

Sharff looked as though he had just received a violent blow to the head with a blunt object. His eyes grew side as he leaned away from her but kept his eyes fixed on her face. He appeared as astonished as ever.

"He's your father..." Scharff breathed in a hushed whisper.

"HA! He may think that but I refuse to call the man my dad."

"You said your father was murdered by the ..."

"My real father was!" she shouted before she was able to compose herself once again. "On January 22, 2077 two Enclave soldier dragged my father into the street and shot him. They then turned their attention on my mother and raped her on the kitchen table before spilling her brains onto it. The couples four year old daughter had seen the whole thing. They left her there for days until one came back for her. Whether he was there to make sure there were no witness or whatever his motives were he decided to take her, keep her and raise her as his own despite the unforgivable crime he committed against her. The two men who murdered my father then raped and killed my mother were one; First Sergeant 'Weeds' Weedley and Major Mack Haynes. It was Haynes who returned and took me as his own hoping I would never recall the day he took my family from me."

Scharff was silent. His once stone cold look was now a wide eyed stare as he processed what she told him. How was that fucking possible? Could it be true? How could someone make something like that up? She delivered the story flawlessly, it had to be true.

Never before had he felt sympathy for another. He just assumed no one had it as bad as him to deserve his empathy on any level and yet she pulled at every nerve in his body.

What possessed him to place an arm around her he would blame on understanding versus compassion.

Whatever made her rest her head on his shoulder and feel his bare skin on her arm she would blame on a moment of weakness and nothing else.

"I don't envy you," she told him.

"Oh?"

"What's it like going through an entire life time having no friends, no relationships, no feeling of self-worth and come away from it all with less than you ever had?"

He raised a brow and looked to the wall across from them.

"Something kind of like how you feel right now," he told her as he breathed a sigh. Had he really just said that? It really just slipped out. He hoped she would just see it as another means to try and tap into her mind but she was looking directly at him a little differently now. She narrowed her eyes and her mouth remained tight. She wasn't even blinking.

What possessed him to look upon her bruised face and lean in to meet her lips with his own and allow his tongue to trace along her bottom lip, he would blame on a tactic to better infiltrate their prisoner.

What possessed her to allow his subtle embrace that found her mouth upon his and her eyes to shut and take in the passionate moment, she would blame on an attempt to seduce her captor to gain her freedom.


	17. Chapter 17

Scharff knew it was a matter of time before someone poked their head in to check up on the prisoner. He pulled himself away from her and got to his feet. Neither of them said a word or dared to look at the other. He left without a second glance.

His head had once been clear and focused on the task at hand but now it seemed overfilled with choices, possibilities and desires. What the hell had all that been? Years of training and conditioning to close off all kinds of sympathy and mercy down the drain just like that, all for some Canadian whore who was more a burden then anything.

Rubbing the back of his neck he entered the surveillance room where only he was on shift tonight. He monitored the detainees primarily to see how they acted in their confined state. When the door opened his stomach just about jumped into his throat when he saw the uniformed man hunched over looking into the display monitors of the cells.

Scharff froze instantly as Haynes simply stared into the screens wondering what the General had perhaps seen.

"Come in here, soldier," Haynes called forth.

Scharff obeyed the order as the door slammed shut behind him.

There was a moment of awkward silence between them before Haynes acknowledged the man with his eyes – those cold gray eyes.

"Let's cut the crap. I won't pretend and tell you that I didn't see what went on in that room," Haynes mumbled.

Scharff didn't know what to do at this moment. For the first time in his entire career everything was at stake. With one word, Haynes could have the man put before a firing squad with Lisi right beside him. Scharff had always been fiercely loyal to the Enclave but now he had betrayed his comrades and his country.

"Sir, I"

"Cram it!" Haynes snapped cutting him short. "That girl is a danger to our entire organization. How long has this been going on under Colonel Keller's nose?"

"Sir, I swear it meant nothing. I was just trying to get information and I was running low on ideas with that one," he tried.

"Don't fucking pull that crap with me. I wasn't always behind a fucking desk!" he barked.

Scharff instantly felt like a smaller dog being scolded by the pack alpha.

"Did she tell you anything?" Haynes demanded.

"Sir?"

"Did she tell you anything? Anything at all?!"

"She is keeping pretty quiet, Sir"

"Let me be blunt. I know a lot about you, soldier. Perfect record apart from some extensive use of force. You have always got the job done despite terrifying the shit out of everyone on this base. So I have a really hard time figuring this one out," Haynes told curtly. His eyes fell on a large folder on the desk near a few of the other monitors. Scharff's eyes followed his attention to the folder. Haynes went on.

"I went through your details. Born into the Enclave pretty much. Methods always extremely violent and often left psychological scaring. So why this? Why change your strategy that has had a one hundred percent success rate for this girl?"

"I told you Sir, she has been the biggest challenge yet. I had no choice but to..."

"You know what I think? I think you're lying," Haynes corrected.

Scharff swallowed the lump in his throat. So this is what it was live to be on the receiving end of his own methods.

"Do you care for her?" Haynes asked nonchalant.

"Sir?"

"It's a yes or no question. Does this Canadian mean anything to you? Do you have feelings for her?" he asked again.

Scharff paused.

"No, Sir," Scharff spoke.

"Just looking to get some ass?" he asked with his temper rising a little.

Scharff was fucked either which way. He could lie and say that he just wanted a quick fuck and see 'Dad' tear him a new one or confess he had knowingly betrayed the organization. He couldn't see a way out of this. He had to try.

"Sir, I don't know why I chose to act in such a manner. I can only hope to plead to your better nature in matters that concern her."

Haynes eyes shot wide and he looked upon the younger male in utter disbelief.

"What did she tell you?" he demanded.

FUCK! This so far had not been the way to go.

"Sir, it is absolutely none of my business and I..."

"WHAT THE FUCK DID SHE TELL YOU, SOLDIER?!"

"Everything... She told me everything, Sir. At least I think she did," Scharff mumbled as his eyes fell to the ground. Now he had done it. This was the end. Haynes would save his own ass and have Scharff shot without even raising a fuss about it. No one would question the order. Haynes certainly would cover all his bases.

Haynes looked redder than a cooked lobster. The vein in his neck looked as though it would burst at any moment.

"I suppose you think I'll have you shot," Haynes mumbled.

Now Scharff was able to look at the man with a raised brow.

"I won't do that," Haynes began. "If you really are as good at your job then you can see she is a very sick young woman for reasons clearly known to the both of us," Haynes spoke.

Scharff nodded but he couldn't figure out where this was going.

"Whatever is going on between you two it ends now. We have both done something against the code of this organization and so long as it stays between the two of us, there was no harm done," Haynes added.

No harm done? Lisi was a wreck and he used that term lightly.

"I will take her back to Fort Orleans. There she will undergo proper treatment and be in the care she needs. Your reports will clearly underline that this is in the Enclave's best interest. Leave the rest up to me. It won't be easy to have this all swept under the rug but that's what us Generals do best."

"You're taking her away to be doped up on meds again?" Scharff asked. Clearly he had gone too far because the General was now glaring at him with a look that would have even the hardest soldier cower.

"Look here, Captain. I am willing to keep your hand in this forgotten. I am even willing to have you promoted to Major if this all goes through. Cross me, and I will have you supervising the work details in the oil sands of Alberta!" Haynes threatened.

Scharff's eyes fell to the floor once again. He didn't have a choice. Slowly he nodded.

"I am glad we agree. I'll expect the report on my desk by 1800hrs tonight. For now, take the day off soldier."

* * *

The report was on General Haynes' desk at 1800hrs as prompted. Later on in the evening MPs escorted Lisi out of her cell and into a room where Colonel Keller, General Haynes and newly promoted Major Scharff waited.

Scarff couldn't bring himself to even look at her. He felt as though he was aiding each enemy, not just one. Lisi seemed to growl as she was sat on the chair and this time, she held in place by the MPs.

"Good news. You're not to be shot after all," Keller spoke up as he paced around the young woman. General Haynes is to escort you to Fort Orleans with him. There you will undergo extensive investigation and a fair trial."

Scharff was certain he could hear her heart beat as rage overwhelmed her.

"Major Scharff here signed you over to the General earlier today," Keller confirmed.

Why the fuck did he have to go and say it? Scharff now saw the hostile green eyes staring right at him. He could feel her anger burning him from the inside out. He wanted to mouth that he was sorry but with so many scanning eyes he dared not.

"So it's settled. You're flight is leaving tonight, madmanwaselle," the Colonel had attempted French and failed miserably.

Both her head and Scharff's snapped towards the Colonel. Had he said that right? An hour? So soon?!

Lisi didn't scream, cry or utter her usual threats. Her cold stare never wavered away from Scharff. Every time he glanced in her direction he caught her eyes on him with accusation. He had betrayed her trust more now than ever. Death would have been a far better option. He willingly put her in the hands of the man responsible for everything wrong in her life at no fault of her own.

When she was lead back to her cell by the MPs, the General caught Scharff once again.

"She will not forgive me if there is something between you two. I don't want her coming back to you. End this," Haynes ordered.

"End this? Sir, she hates me enough. I just handed her to you. I don't think you need to..."

"I need things to be certain. Let's see those trained words at their finest."

Scharff felt as though the General was taking every moral fibre he had and that hadn't been much to begin with. He walked towards her cell and let himself in.

She sat on the bed trembling but her face was clear and her eyes dry. She looked at him as he walked in with confusion and anger wrapped into one wronged emotion.

"Don't look at me like that," he began. "What? Are you really that surprised? My god...You really did fall for me didn't you?" he mocked. "Holy shit! I knew I was good but wow, that good huh?"

He felt the temperature in the room going up no doubt on account of her boiling blood.

"Look girlie, it was cute and all but I did what I had to do. Don't tell me you weren't playing the game back. I know you were trying to get me on your side and sympathize. I guess my mind games are just better than yours. Don't feel bad. You did well but I am a professional."

He gave a slight laugh.

"Try not to hate me too much," he said. He knew what he said next would be it. She'd hate him and wish for a slow death upon him till the day she died herself.

"Maybe when you're a bit older the General will stop fantasizing about banging the mom and turn his attention on the sweet piece of ass of the daughter."

That was it. She just about threw herself upon him. He knew that was going to happen so he ran out of the door before she could drag him back in and tear him limb from limb.

Scharff left the room unable to linger and feel her hatred towards him no matter how deserving of it he was. He slunk back to his room and threw himself on his bed wondering where the hell all this came from.

'Pull it together.' He thought. 'You're a Major now. You could have any slut on this base. That girl was nothing but trouble. You're above this. You've never wanted any woman before. You love your job. You are a hard ass who scares everyone in this god damn place.' He tried to coax himself.

'You will feel nothing but regret and hate yourself for the rest of your life if you let her get on that Vertibird with that man,' the thought finally manifested itself.

Better not to think, just do. He grabbed his assault carbine and a few additional supplies including a rare Stealthboy from his footlocker and made his way to the main hangar.

* * *

The MPs lead the defeated young woman towards the aircraft where General Haynes stood beside Colonel Keller. Both men seemed pleased in the outcome of the week.

Just as she approached the door to the side of the aircraft them came a shout from across the helipad.

"General! Sir, wait! Your forgot to sign her out clearance form!" Scharff's voice carried. The General raised a brow as the Major approached. Lisi looked over her shoulder seeing Scharff now walk up to Haynes. Just as he reached him the assault carbine slung over the man's shoulder fell into his hands and he aimed it right at the General's head.

"What the fuck is going on?! Major! Put that rifle down!" the Colonel demanded.

General Haynes was surprisingly calm. He even dared to smile at the young man who seemed determined to get his message across.

"She isn't going with you!" Scharff snapped. "Let her go or I give this bird a new paint job with his brains!"

The MPs were unable to get out their own weapons to deal with the crisis. No one had a weapon out but Scharff. Their eyes fell on the General to see what their orders would be.

"What are you doing, Major?" Keller questioned.

"Do you really think you will get away with her?" the General asked.

Lisi was just as stunned as the men who held her. What was he doing?

"I don't plan on getting away," Scharff explained. "Now let her go!"

"Do as he asks," Haynes told the MPs who looked rather startled by all this. They released her without uttering a word. Immediately she approached Scharff with confusion. She couldn't bring herself to ask a single question. She had no idea what this plan was.

Slowly the two of them began to back away.

"When I say now, run," he whispered to which she responded to with a curt nod.

When they were at a descent distance he gave the word and they ran back inside the base. Within seconds the alarms blared. Scharff took her by the hand and pulled her into a custodial closet. Both were breathing heavily and seemed to be in shock for what they had just done.

"What were you thinking? First you sell me out and now..." Lisi demanded as her voice carried just above a whisper.

"I'm sorry! Fuck, I'm sorry I didn't mean what I said. I was told I had to make you hate me. What I did was unforgivable. You are going to take this and you are going to go. Get as far away from here as possible!" Scharff told her placing the Stealthboy in her hands.

"No more fucking mind games. What is this? You think I trust a single thing you say?" she questioned.

If she wasn't going to trust his words than his actions would have to convince her. Her grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into him. Her hands flew to his forearms and dug into his skin trying to get him to release her. He forced her mouth on his and held her tight with one arm around her back and the other holding the back of her head.

"If I knew I was going to live, I would tell you that I want you to be with me and that I am the biggest asshole for shoving your head in a bathtub of water," he groaned as he felt her hips grind into his.

Given the circumstances that was the sweetest thing he had ever said to her. As much as she tried to fight him at the beginning she felt herself giving in allowing his tongue to meet hers and his hands explore her body roughly. He lifted her onto a stack of metal boxes feeling her legs wrap tightly around his waist. She bit devilishly at his bottom lip and clawed her hands into the curves of his back.

"Please come with me," she begged.

That made him smile. She was genuinely worried about him despite all that he put her through.

"I was never planning on going. Lisi, look at me!" he said as he felt her tongue graze his neck. "I am sorry for giving you back to him. I would have never been able to forgive myself for being such a coward," he told her.

"Come with me please!" she begged.

"Your people will not forgive what I have done to them. I don't expect them to. Just because I chose to help you does not mean I side with you. I am part of this organization and its ideals. I just won't let a poor choice made by one individual reflect on what we stand for," he told her.

He now ceased their embrace and looked at her. He placed the Stealthboy back in her arms and stepped back.

"You need to go now," he told her as he handed her the assault carbine.

She hesitated.

"Lisi! Go!" he ordered.

She got to her feet and powered up the Stealthboy. She knew she didn't have long. He felt her walk by him knowing she'd be gone forever after this. Suddenly he felt the invisible force grab him and kiss him deeply one last time before the door opened and he knew she was gone.


	18. Chapter 18

_A/N – I had 4 different Chapter 18's all with different ways to go about it. I finally chose this one. I tell you, it wasn't easy. Reviews welcome! GIXXER! SORRY! I say your megaton updates and I felt ashamed to have disappeared too lol -_

**Chapter 18**

The execution was planned for the following morning. What better way to set an example for the troops than to take the life of their hero. Oh, how the mighty fall. The troops were ruthless with their words. They once admired their brethren and now they were shouting for his blood.

In his solitary cell he waited for morning to come. He was given no last meal or last rights, not that it mattered much. He was as low as they got. Probably on the same level as the pedophiles.

He sat on the steel bed staring at the floor when the cell door opened quickly.

He eyes fell upon the man who entered the cell. General Haynes wore a vacant expression devoid of sympathy or anger. He approached Scharff and sat on the bed beside the fallen Major.

Neither of them spoke a word for a moment. Scharff really had nothing to say but surely the General did if he was here after all.

"I can't call it off. You let her go. There were too many witnesses. I had to make the call," Haynes told him.

Scharff didn't move a muscle or speak any words.

"I know you are loyal to this organization. I know you were put in a delicate position to choose but you chose wrong. I could have looked after her. You didn't have to betray..."

"Look after her?" Scharff cut in. "Honestly Sir, how could you have possibly looked after her? How could you have gotten her to forgive you? I have never seen a man in such denial before in my life. You truly believe your actions are forgivable?"

Haynes didn't appear too pleased.

"Do you think that I don't love her? To me, she is my daughter. I raised her from such a young age. Family doesn't have to be blood."

Scharff couldn't help but laugh coldly.

"You have no idea. In my work I have seen it all but no one is like her. No one has been so blind with anger and hate. She has been traumatized by you. Your desire to have her call you father is unattainable to the highest degree. Every action you take pushes her further and further away. I pity you. Really I do. I really think that you believe you are helping her. You think you know what's best for her yet subconsciously, you are only looking out for yourself" Scharff spat.

Haynes processed this for a moment. Was the man right? Was he just trying to redeem himself for past failures?

"What does it fucking matter? If you don't mind, I would like to spend the remaining hours of my life in peace," Scharff concluded.

Haynes eyed the man sceptically as he stood in the doorway.

"Did you love her?" Haynes asked.

Scharff looked up with a narrowed glare.

"No," he replied which made Haynes turn away seeming disappointed.

"But I think I could have," Scharff finished which made Haynes pause for a moment before leaving the cell.

* * *

The MPs showed up right on time to escort the prisoner to his final stand. Silently he was led down the halls passed those who were gathering to watch the execution. Some spat on him as he walked by. Other were content to let their words cut into his mind.

He walked through the door and winced feeling the warm morning sun on his skin. The blinding light stung at his eyes. The crowd was larger than he expected. Perhaps he had made some enemies in this place without having to be a traitor.

The MPs led him to the wall where he would stand and wait for the bullets to cut him down.

It had been nearly two years since the last execution in this manner. Generally they were done more discretely so it left Scharff wondering just how much of this was for show.

Haynes stood displaced from the crowd watching the prisoner be placed against the wall. He felt something brush against him and looked to his side only to see nothing there.

"How did you get in?" he asked quietly so not to rouse suspicion.

"Last minute you decided to pull the dogs from the guard gate. Where did they go?" came Lisi's voice softly by his side.

"Important training exercise in the hangar. Detecting the use of stealth suits. Seems they are becoming quite popular," Haynes replied not looking in her direction.

"Why are you doing this?"

"I don't expect you to call me dad or love me but at least know that I never stopped loving you. Maybe what I want for you isn't what's best. I should have listened to you. I'm sorry, for everything. Now, how do you intend to pull this off?"

"Honestly, I have no idea," she replied gauging just how difficult this was to be.

"Here," Haynes held out his hand holding a flash grenade. "That should keep them startled for a few seconds. Long enough for him to slip this on," he added handing her another Stealthboy. "Who repaired your suit?"

There was a long pause.

"Thanks," she mumbled but judging from her tone she was choked up on her words a little. "One of the techs had it ready for me when I got back. I was going to come back guns blazing but so far things are looking good for me for a change."

Haynes smiled to himself.

"You better hurry. The guy looks miserable up there. I actually think he thought you'd leave him to die."

Lisi smiled but knew he couldn't see her.

This didn't make them square. Not by a long shot but for the first time he had done something right by her and she was thankful for his help. She moved from his side manipulating her way through the crowd careful not to touch anyone. As the firing line got in place she moved beside Scharff who did look miserable as Haynes suggested.

"I'm here," she whispered which made him jump a little. He didn't say a word.

Suddenly there was a loud,

BANG - and a blinding flash. Everyone was caught off guard. Lisi quickly cut Scharff's bonds and put the Stealthboy on him as he too felt the effects of the blast. She had forgotten to warn him. A careless mistake. When everyone was able to collect their senses they saw the cut ropes and the missing prisoner.

The base was in a panic as everyone went scrambling thinking they would soon be under a full on attack.

Lisi noticed the dogs were on their way to man the gate from the Hangar. She and Scharff were lucky to slip through undetected before the handlers got to their post.

She didn't look back. She held Scharff tightly leading him down thin streets.

"You could have warned me about the flash!" he snapped as he rubbed his eyes.

"Sorry!" she scoffed back as she pulled him down a narrow street trying to make it to their destination before his suit lost effect.

Sure enough they made it to a narrow red brick home nuzzled between two brown stones. She opened the door and led him into the home.

"Your place?" he asked.

"Just a safe house," she replied.

She powered off her suit and removed the helmet placing it on the small wooden chair by the door. His Stealthboy then lost power.

They looked at each other for a moment digesting what had just happened.

"I honestly thought that was it," he told her.

"Yeah well, guess we are finally even now. Sure took a while," she replied back with a slight sneer as she turned and walked towards the kitchen feeling she earned a beer but when she turned, her hand was caught in his.

She spun around and glared at him. For a second he thought she was going to bite out his throat but her sudden lunge at him only brought their lips together in an aggressive embrace. Their hands frantically explored one another's body as intense desire took both of them over.

Lisi didn't know what to make of this. The last man she cared for has been bludgeoned to death by her own hands. She thought such feelings were beyond her and yet here she was with a man she once wanted to see pulled apart limb by limb.

He wasn't exactly feeling the cliché blossoming romance either. There was no question he wanted her but if being in her company for so long taught him anything, it was that she was the last person to trust. Still, the feeling of it all being so wrong made it that much more enjoyable. He couldn't trust her and yet he would do anything for her.

Just as he thought he was about to have her she pulled away from him and stepped away as if dismissing the entire situation. He was left slightly dazed and confused with a gapping mouth and hand still in the air as if holding an invisible person.

"We don't have much time. We have to keep moving. This location could already by compromised," she explained as she picked out a few items from the front hall closet that he couldn't make out.

She brushed by him and opened the door ever so slightly to look out. It was so quiet on the streets. Not even the dull roar of a patrolling vehicle could be heard. Either they were still collecting themselves, or they were waiting for Lisi and Scharff to leave the building before springing their trap.

Check point one was a success. Now to get to number two. The sewers were no longer trusted. It was much riskier to move about on the streets but it was the safer of the two. She moved quickly back through the door and plastered herself on the wall indicating with a simple hand wave that he was to follow.

Scharff wasn't what to make of the cover and movement but he kept his mouth shut and let her lead without raising a question. He was relieved when she flung herself up a set of stairs and knocked quietly on a door which opened instantly to allow them to enter.

The old woman seemed surprise to see them. Her eyes were wide and she hesitated for a moment before letting them enter. The kind gentle smile seemed loose on her face like she was masking some discomfort.

"Lisi!" she beamed wrapping her arms around the young woman before her eyes fell sharply on Scharff.

"It's ok, he's with me," Lisi informed. Perhaps this was the reason the old woman seemed so on edge. Even former Enclave soldiers were far from trusted.

"I would have assumed you'd go right for the new HQ," Abbey exclaimed.

Lisi shook her head and peered through the dusty tattered curtain in the living room.

"Too much heat right now. Need to lay low for a while. Thought it best to come here since I figured you'd have an update on the situation from Jon," she inquired.

Abbey now was shaking her head.

"It's been quiet. Not a single word for several hours now," she spoke.

Lisi moved away from the window and looked around the old woman's house.

"Do you mind if I use your rest room?" Lisi asked.

For some reason Abbey looked concerned but soon nodded and pointed up the stairs. Lisi moved without a word up the stars while Scharff remained in a large velvet chair with Abbey's eyes locked on him.

When she was at the top of the stairs, the faint murmur of Abbey's radio could be heard coming from her bedroom. She could hear the voices of the men speaking of Enclave matters and business. Looked like Abbey was keeping informed on the situation. It was hard to make out the conversation between the men on the station so Lisi moved towards the bedroom letting curiosity get the better of her.

Slowly, she opened the bedroom door. This was ... strange...

Abbey had a framed old pre war Enclave flag just above her bed. A large picture of a charming young man in an officer's suit was on the night stand. Lisi picked up the framed picture and eyed the young man. His uniform displayed the name Cross. Lisi had heard in casual passing, some people call Abbey as Mrs. Cross. Who was this man in Enclave attire? What was his affiliation with Abbey?

Bewildered, Lisi forgot about her need to use the restroom and walked back down the stairs. When she entered back into the living room she saw Scharff with a rather pained look on his face staring at her from the chair.

"What's wro..." Lisi began but when she saw the old woman clutching the gun now aimed at her, she stopped.

"What is this?" Lisi demanded wondering why Abbey was acting so out of character.

"I'm sorry child. I already made the call. The MP's should be here any moment. You just sit down and wait for them alright?" she told the young woman.

"Abbey. What are you doing? Put the gun down," Lisi asked calmly.

"You don't understand. I have to turn you in," Abbey replied.

Suddenly Scharff interrupted.

"It was you. You cut me free back in the garage that night," he said in disbelief that such a feeble old woman had such an upper hand.

"You make me sick. You belong to a proud organization and you just chose to throw it all away for this absurd rebellion," Abbey spat. "I let you go and you end up switching sides."

Lisi couldn't believe what she was hearing. Abbey never once gave off the impression that she was pro Enclave.

"What about my parents? How can you insult their memory like this?" she asked.

"My dear, don't be so stupid. Who do you think tipped off the Enclave with the operations your parents took part in? Who do you think told them where to find them?" Abbey snapped.

Lisi felt sick and furious. She had been tricked all along. This woman was as clever as they came. Who knows how deep her treachery went. How long she remained a spy. She had to give the old bitch credit. No one knew.

"Now, just sit down like a good child and wait for the MP's. They should be here any moment," Abbey said cheerfully.


	19. Chapter 19

_Authors Note: - I'm back! Feels good to be writing this story again. I've missed it. I have this chapter and another one started so enjoy! R/R! -_

**Chapter 19**

Despair was a feeling that came easily to Lisi over these last many months. In the back of her mind she questioned how she had gotten through everything thus far. She couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe she would get out of this one too. Optimism was her best weapon against the impending feeling of failure.

Scharff sat beside her in a large blue velvet chair looking pale and uneasy. She could see the slight twitch of his fingers and the sweat on the back of his neck. What could he possibly be thinking, she wondered.

It seemed neither of them wanted to speak or pleade for mercy in their predicament. Scharff would steal a glance at Lisi when he could but Abbey would force their eyes back to the ground as if she thought they were communicating through their minds. They didn't need to speak words in the other's head for them to understand what the other was thinking. This was defeat. In a moment the MP's would be here to collect – if they didn't shoot on sight.

"Can I ask one thing?" Lisi spoke up.

"You want to know why, don't you?" Abbey replied.

"Something like that," was all Lisi could come back with.

"My son, like you," Abbey began now turning her attention to Scharff, "had been a part of the Enclave. He was a good man, only 20 years old and a lieutenant with high expectations from his superiors. He was going to go places. He was going to rise up and be an exceptional leader. That was until your parents planned an attack and detonated an IED that took out his vehicle within a convoy. Apparently the death wasn't instant like the grievance officers had me believe, no, he burned alive when his vehicle burst into flames!"

Lisi wanted to feel sympathy for the woman but it just wasn't manifesting. She had lost her son? Sure it was sad but her son was part of an organization that saw millions murdered, displaced and forced into labour and slavery.

"So you wanted revenge?" Lisi asked.

"Damn right I did! Why fight progress anyways? What do you really think this rebellion will lead to? Have you any idea what's going on with the rest of this God forsaken country?! Have you even heard about the mines in Alberta?!" Abbey said getting quite irate. "The Enclave knows what's best for the greater good. People worth protecting are being protected. So what if the success of a once great nation comes at a cost of a few thousand ordinary people? That's life. That's survival. Those who have the power, should keep the power!"

Abbey's rant had struck a nerve with Lisi. Did this woman actually believe the hate filled spatter she was spewing? Lisi's eyes fell to Scharff. She was pleased to see even he carried some humanity in him when she saw the reaction on his face. Clearly he thought the woman was nuts too.

Lisi was left curious though. What was going on back in Alberta? An old memory played in her head as she thought about the stories her previous group, the Cavers, had shared about life as a slave in the quarries. Is this was Abbey was referring to?

Suddenly there came a knock at the door. Abbey's cold glare flashed to a dainty smile as she raced to the front door and sprung it open. She had expected to come face to face with MPs but instead she was looking at some of the Canadian rebels.

The young man and woman looked tired from fighting all day but non threatening as they stood on Abbey's porch with their weapons slung over their shoulders.

"What is it?" Abbey asked almost coming off as rude despite her false characterization to be one of the Canadians.

"Lisi and her captive were suppose to check in at the HQ but she hasn't turned up. There are patrols looking for them all over the place so we were tasked to come and see if she had come here," the young female rebel spoke.

Abbey shook her head. "They aren't here," she explained trying not to sound rushed.

The male rebel now spoke up. "Do you mind if we come in just for a moment? We nearly got caught just down the street. I think they may be headed this way," he told Abbey.

Abbey now looked agitated.

As she continued to try and get the rebels off her door step, Lisi heard faint footsteps coming across the kitchen. Jon now appeared in the living room with his finger pressed to his lips indicating for them to keep quiet. How could he have known?!

He slowly and silently cut their binds.

"Let's go," he ordered in a forced whisper. Scharff began to follow the man towards the kitchen but Lisi made her way right for Abbey who was still distracted by her unwanted guests.

"Lisi!" Jon called trying not to let his voice carry to loudly but Abbey seemed to pick up on the noise and turned sharply. Lisi rushed the elderly woman and rammed her into the wall.

Abbey let out a cry of pain. The two Canadian rebels rushed inside and closed the door behind them as Jon rushed over to try and get Lisi off Abbey.

"We need to go, now! The MPs are on their way!" Jon ordered. Lisi held the old woman tightly not allowing anyone to pull her grip apart.

Abbey was hollering and screaming with everything she had.

"I'll kill her!" Lisi shouted but now Jon and the two rebels were trying to pry her away. Scharff remained standing in the hallway slightly stunned and yet indifferent whether Lisi finished off the old woman or not.

Suddenly things turned even sketchier as Lisi managed to get a hold of Jon's side arm and pulled it from its holster. She fired a single shot into the ground, which caused those trying to get her off of Abbey to jump back.

"Lisi! Put the gun down! We don't have time for this!" Jon snapped.

Lisi ignored him as she turned her focus to Abbey. Violently, she forced the old woman to her knees and put the gun to her head.

"Is this what it was like the day my father died?" Lisi began. "Was he on his knees like you are now? Did you enjoy watching them shoot him as I am going to enjoy watching you die?" Tears began to form in Lisi's eyes but she didn't wipe them her way. She was almost snarling at the woman who just remained silent and still at the mercy of her would be executioner.

Lisi began to slide the trigger back when she felt Scharff's hand wrap delicately around her wrist. Some how he had silently gotten behind her and was now drawing her arm up so the gun was no longer against Abbey's head. As he did this he whispered in her ear, "Time to start recovering."

Lisi allowed him to take the gun from her.

"We need to go!" Jon's voice suddenly interrupted the moment and snapped them all back to reality.

Scharff brought the pistol grip of the handgun across Abbey's head swiftly knocking her unconscious to the ground.

"Get your stuff!" Jon barked. Scharff and Lisi gathered their confiscated weapons and joined Jon and the two others in the kitchen.

Jon led the group out through the kitchen door and into the backyard where he had slipped some fencing for them to continue away from Abbey's house. They were able to meander through backyards, streets and alleys before coming to the new HQ location, an old police station.

Lisi expected to be greeted with open arms but instead nearly everyone inside raised a gun to them as they entered. Scharff instinctively put up his arms but Lisi was caught off guard,

"Lower your weapons!" she ordered but no one flinched.

"It's alright. No issues here," Jon stepped forward raising his hand. This seemed to have worked as everyone holstered or slung their firearms.

Lisi looked to Jon with confusion.

"Am I not to be trusted?" she asked letting her bitterness show.

"People are just uncomfortable with the company you chose to keep," Jon explained as he looked to Scharff. He pulled Lisi away for a moment so only she could hear his words.

"I told you going after him was a mistake. You were a victim of that man too. Imagine how the people in here feel about his presence? He's killed their brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, you name it, and he's killed them. Then you further risked the situation by going to Mrs. Cross's house instead of checking in at the proper designation," Jon lectured.

"How did you know we were there? How did you know everything?" Lisi asked trying to avoid the lecture.

"Ever since our position was compromised at the garage, I was suspicious there was a rat amongst us. I secretly tapped everyone within the inner circle's phone lines. Sure enough our signal operators picked up on the phone call Abbey made to the Enclave MPs. We were able to hash out a rescue plan to come get you before they showed up," Jon explained.

Lisi took a long deep breath.

"Thank you," she spoke in the most sincere tone she could muster.

Jon picked up on this and smiled. He placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I know this hasn't been easy for you. You've carried out each objective bravely. Some times you let personal feelings get in the way but I am proud of what you have done so far, kiddo. Your parents would be proud," Jon matched her sincerity.

Lisi met his eyes and smiled.

"Now about him," Jon added looking over to Scharff. "Like I was saying. I don't like your choice in men but I'll respect your judgement. So long as you take responsibility for him and his actions, he can stay. From now on though, if you chose to carry out a rescue mission, tell me," he asked but his voice made it sound more like and order.

Lisi nodded. Jon removed his hand from her shoulder and looked to Scharff. Jon's gaze told the former interrogator that he had his eye on him. Scharff lowered his gaze in an attempt to submit.

Lisi walked back over to Scharff, taking his hand ignoring all the glaring eyes, and lead him down the hall of officer till there were at the very end.

"I was able to secure one of the larger officer as a private room. It's not much but it's cozy," she told him as they walked into the office now converted into a bedroom. They were able to get a generator working so the room had dim light but the windows had all been blacked out to prevent detection. There lay a large mattress on the ground and a few lockers pushed up against the wall.

She was right. It wasn't much but as she led him in he found himself ignoring the atmosphere and staring at her.

Something in Scharff's mind triggered. They were alive. After all they had been though they came away with one another and finally they were in a place where they felt safe and secure.

It was like a primal instinct that took over and Scharff reached out and pulled Lisi into his body. He didn't give her a moment to breathe when he pressed his mouth to hers and embraced her deeply.

His ferocity was matched by her own and within a few seconds she had his shirt off and was in the process of removing her own when their came a knock at the door.

Before either of them could raise the 'we're busy,' Jon's voice carried through.

"Scharff, I'd like a word with you please," he called through the door.

Scharff pulled away from their kiss and without missing a beat muttered, "Yes, sir."

Lisi actually seemed frustrated with the distraction. She knew Jon was doing this on purpose. For not having a father anymore, she certainly had managed to gather some protective figures in her life.

Scharff put his shirt back on quickly and kissed her once more.

"He just wants to hash out some ground rules with me. It's fine. Don't even bother putting that back on," he instructed hinting to her shirt, which had been tossed to the corner.

Lisi nodded and in the next moment Scharff was out the door. Jon was waiting for him in the middle of the hall beckoning him to follow.

The two came to what Scharff believed to be the former Police Captain's office. It was the nicest one here and the largest. Of course it would be Jon's. There were two large lamps illuminating the room perched upon the solid wood desk in the center. Two chairs remained on either side of the desk.

"This isn't meant to be threatening. Please, take a seat," Jon offered hinting to the worn leather chair opposite of the desk. Jon took a seat across in the larger of the two chairs. "I just need to be sure everyone here is safe," he added.

Scharff shifted uncomfortably. He had been in charge of the psychological operations and interrogation Intelligence team. How the hell could he assure this man he had nothing to worry about when it was Scharff's own duty to lie and deceive?

"I've done what you would consider to be terrible things. I loved my job and I believe in what the Enclave stood for. I was proud to be a soldier amongst the finest men and women of my nation. Like I said, what they stood for. Times have changed and given the recent circumstances, my opinion and loyalty has shifted. No apology I can come up with will excuse me from what I have done to the people of this city however, I give you my word so long as that girl is alive, I have a reason to be here." Scharff attempted.

Jon remained very stoic as he processed Scharff's words.

"You'll have to excuse the fact that you know I wont trust you for the longest time. Regardless of what you've done for her, for all I know you could be thinking with your dick. Just as you said, so long as she's alive, you'll be here but I fear if something were to happen to her, would you go running back?" Jon questioned.

Scharff thought about this for a moment.

"I deserted. They will have me shot on sight. Even if I wanted to go back, I wouldn't be welcome. I know it's not the most trusting of circumstances but so long as you allow me to remain here, and so long as she believes in what you are doing for these people, I'll fight with you," Scharff concluded.

This seemed to satisfy Jon. He rose from the chair and offered Scharff his hand to shake. Scharff acknowledged the gesture.

"Keep that girl safe," Jon directed curtly.

Scharff smirked and nodded as he turned for the door.

"Oh, son?" Jon added.

Scharff turned some what caught off guard by the pleasantry.

"We're planning our final assault in the coming days. In the meantime, um, uh, well …. Enjoy each other's company," was all Jon could voice.

Scharff awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck and nodded before almost rushing out the door.

When he returned to Lisi's room he opened the door expecting a surprise. He certainly got it. He couldn't help but smirk and give her credit for trying. She lay on the mattress wearing nothing but a pain of black boy short panties and a black sports bra that left nothing to the imagination. She was sleek and athletic. He moved quietly over to het noting that she had managed to slip off one sock but one still remained on her foot.

There she lay, fast asleep.

Scharff managed to locate the tattered fleece blanket in her locker and lay beside her pulling the blanket over them both. He gently pulled her into his arms and kissed the back of her neck. Within seconds, he too was asleep.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

_Lisi was back in Fort Orleans. She felt younger and knew herself to be ten years old. She was sitting in a classroom surrounded with other children her age. They were all making Father's Day cards with various arts and craft supplies. _

_Her teacher came over and observed Lisi making her card. _

"_Lisi, what have you drawn?" her teacher asked._

_Lisi looked at her card and triumphantly explained that she had drawn a time when she had fallen asleep between Mommy and Daddy. _

_This raised an alarm with her teacher. General Haynes had been asked to come and explain the card and the detailed drawing of Lisi between her alleged 'parents.' _

_Lisi could heard the conversation going on in the back of the classroom between her adoptive father and her teacher._

"_I am very sorry to question the drawing, sir. It's just that we are trained to detect odd behaviours in children and how they can sometimes illustrate abuse in creative forms such as this. Now that I look at the picture, I can clearly see there is no resemblance between you, Karen and the people in this drawing. The task was to make a Father's Day card so why she chose to draw her previous parents and not you and Karen is quite shocking. You've always been the father figure in her life," her teacher explained._

_Truth was, Lisi loved Haynes unconditionally. He was her father in so many ways but she had drawn him many cards. She thought this year she would draw one for her biological father but the only thought she could pull from her locked memories was the blurry image of her nestled in their loving arms on a bed bed. She didn't know where this memory came from but it was all she had._

_She thought Haynes would understand and admire her ability to hold onto a little piece of her previous Dad, but instead Haynes was furious with her. He even made a point of ripping the card up in front of her. He told her not to think about her parents. They were dead and he was her father now. It was the first time since her adoption that Haynes had truly been angry with her. That night, she sobbed in her bed and uttered the words "I hate him!" in her pillow. _

* * *

Lisi woke from her dream feeling empty and tired. Scharff's eyes were open beside her appearing quite alarmed.

Rather then face the obvious line of questioning, she rose off the mattress quickly.

"What's the rush?" he asked feeling the awkwardness grow.

"The briefings start at 8am sharp. I don't want to be late," she stated.

"Should I come?" he asked.

Lisi thought about this. "Might not be a bad idea. You know the Enclave better than any of us. May help to have an insider there."

The two of them got dressed in silence. Sure enough, the awkwardness had risen to unpleasant levels.

They entered the briefing room just before 8am and sat quietly beside one another. Jon looked to Lisi who seemed unusually hardened, even for her and the unpleasant disappointment on Scharff's face. Clearly they had not had the greatest of nights and mornings.

Once everyone was in the room the meeting began.

Jon was planning the last major offensive operation against the Enclave mainland base. As he went on to describe the details everyone looked rather pleased and confident, everyone except Scharff who was buried deep in his chair looking uncomfortable and almost in pain.

"In order for this operation to be a success, we need to completely cripple their ability to control us," Jon began. "The base relies heavily on the efforts of the Canadians to keep operations running. We've managed to halt that for the time being but they're still putting up a fight to get us back. If we can take out their resources like the Vertibird fleet, their vehicles and their fuel supplies, we may be able to force them into a retreat. Our numbers are greater then there's and it's only a matter of time before they've exhausted their resources. We've managed to interrupt all the incoming supply chains as well."

Without hesitation Scharff raised his hand and cut Jon off. "The Enclaves roots are deep in the soil here," he began.

Jon appeared slightly taken aback by the interruption but he allowed Scharff to continue.

"Your goal is to cut them off from the rest of the country but what you may not know is that most of our supplies are dropped by sea. There is a port on the other side of the bluffs where we handle most of our in and outgoing supplies. The rigs offshore provide most of the fuel. What none of you seem to get is that having the Canadians do most of the labour wasn't a way to sustain the Enclave, it was a way to keep you people subdued and out of our affairs," he told them.

Everyone in the briefing room leaned forward to hear what the former Enclave soldier had to say.

"Sure, it's nice to not waste man power on the trivial jobs around the city but frankly, we could get on just fine without the use of Canadian free labour. If anything, things are worse for you now. Before you had your meals provided for you. You were protected in the confines of this city by our means to hold off any hostile invader. Now you've left yourself wide open to raider attacks, slavers and who knows what else," Scharff went on.

No one said a word. Jon looked around the room to gauge everyone's stunned reaction to this new information. Was it true? Was the Enclave the lesser of all evils in this case? If they gained their freedom, what would they do with it?

"Where will you get your food and water? Once you run out of ammunition, where will you get more? Where will you find medical supplies?" Scharff asked. "Enclave patrols have been harvesting the area for years. There is nothing more around here for you to take. Everything you eat, drink, power an electronic device with comes from the Enclave. You don't possess the means to look after yourselves at this time," he concluded.

Jon sat back in his chair. His expression was tense. The room was silent.

Finally, after a long deliberation in his mind, Jon spoke up. "What would you have us do?"

"Make a compromise. If you set some terms, perhaps yourselves and the Colonel can come to a peaceful agreement," Scharff suggested.

Jon contemplated this idea. A few of the others were whispering amongst themselves out of earshot.

"We will not allow ourselves to be slaves once more," Jon alleged.

"If the terms are agreeable, you may not be," Scharff answered.

Lisi was on her feet unexpectedly. "The Enclave is responsible for confinement of the Canadians here! They used you! They murdered, raped and pillaged!"

"Lisi…" Jon cut in. "We have to take the diplomatic approach to this. What you want it total war but that could mean the loss of life on both sides and frankly, I've seen enough death in my lifetime. It is time we try a civil approach. This is a time for peace, not war," he told her trying to sound authoritative.

Lisi stormed out of the briefing room without uttering a single word. Scharff looked to Jon. Before he could speak, Jon let his words be heard.

"That girl has not been with us long. I understand she is angry. There's much more to her suffering than she's let any of us know. You need to keep her from acting irrational or doing something to jeopardize our attempts for peace. Scharff, I thank you for your honesty and somewhat brutal enlightenment in this situation. Please do this for me now. Keep her calm and more importantly, keep her here," Jon ordered.

Scharff nodded and left the room to follow Lisi.

He was able to find her in her office/room. He shut the door after letting himself in.

"You ruined everything," Lisi accused while she sat by the blacked out window. Scharff sighed and remained with his back against the door.

"You needed to be aware of the bigger picture. I know you would have these people charge in guns blazing but sometimes that's not the most effective way to get what you want. Lisi, look at these people. They aren't soldiers. They are simple civilians. They are tired, hungry and scared. The Enclave would wipe them all about before they ever got passed the main gates," he expressed trying to get her to see reason.

"So we're just supposed to forgive and forget?" Lisi interjected.

"No one is suggesting that. What needs to be done is maintaining civility. Like Jon said, no one else needs to die. Terms can be reached peacefully. I know this is hard for you but this may be the best way for everyone to carry on and start recovering. Even you," he explained.

Lisi just sneered and dropped her gaze to the floor.

"Don't bring these people into your war, Lisi," Scharff pointed out. "They aren't involved in your personal vendetta. Grow up and start using that brain of yours before you get innocent people killed." The moment he said it, Scharff wished he had been a bit more tactful with his choice of words.

Lisi got up and moved passed him. The expression on her face was apathetic and calm. She opened the door and simply left. Scharff didn't even try to call after her.

The girl had a lot to process. No doubt she needed a bit of space.

A few minutes passed, then a few more. It hit him like a bullet to the brain. He was supposed to be keeping an eye on her! He sprang out into the hallway. At once, all eyes were on him. Immediately he collected himself and walked nonchalantly through the police station trying to find her. This was bad – very bad.

The armoury. She had to be there, he thought. He made his way down the stairwell into the lower levels of the station. He opened the heavy steel door and sighed with relief when he saw her standing there. She was in the process of putting on her stealth armour. If he had been any longer, she would have had it on, and been invisible at that moment. Lucky for him, that wasn't the case.

"Lisi, what are you doing?" he asked trying to sound sympathetic.

"You said it yourself, no one else needs to die for me to get my revenge. I'll go in alone. I've done it before, I can do it again," she replied hastily.

"Don't you think they've caught on to your game? Please stop this," he tried as he moved towards her.

"I can't just let it go. I wont. The Enclave is responsible for what happened to me and I want justice!" she argued raising the Gauss Rifle at him. Instinctively he raised his hands to show he would submit.

"You can't let this anger control you. You're going to get yourself killed and what good will that do?" he asked.

"At least I die with my integrity!"

"Lisi, you're so close to winning. Don't you see? These people are nearly free. Your parents would be proud of you. You're about to fulfill their mission. They wouldn't want you to take it to any extremes. If the Enclave agrees to the terms, all this ends," Scharff told her as he moved in closer.

Lisi was silent as she tried to process what he was saying. In an instant Scharff was upon her and holding the barrel of the rifle in his hand. He slowly pulled it from her glasp and placed it on the ground. As he came up he placed both hands on her waist.

She couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye. All the vigor, all the intensity was drained from her body. If that was it, if she wasn't meant to fight one last fight then what was she to do?

The answer came as swiftly as it had come to her mind. Scharff pressed his lips to hers in a soft embrace.

At first he was gentle and deliberate, tracing his mouth along her jawline and down her neck but even one as strong willed as he couldn't help but let the arousal play into effect. Her soft moans put the hairs on the back of his neck on edge.

His hands explored the back of the stealth armour looking for the release hatch. Once he found it, the armour melted off her body and crashed to the floor. The tight fitting under-gear emphasized every orifice of her perfect body. His fingers traced along her silhouette while their lips remained long in their kiss.

Suddenly something made every muscle in his body stiffen. The sharp burning pain in his back from her fingers told him she was ready to step this up. Without hesitation he scooped her up in his arms and placed her on the workbench of the armoury. Her legs wrapped around his waist as he felt for the edge of her performance shirt. Once he had it, he lifted it over her head noting how her breasts remained fixed in place by the tight black sports bra. Just another obstacle. Before he had a chance to go for it she had his shirt off and thrown to the floor.

He wasn't sure if she was cold or trembling. Lisi's hands shook as they both paused to fully comprehend what was happening here. There was no doubt in either of their minds that the other was playing with the moral ramifications of their actions. It wasn't long ago they had both tried to kill the other and now they were engaging in a physical embrace.

Lisi's eyes lowered to the scar where her knife and pierced his abdomen. His eyes followed hers and he snickered.

"Next time maybe," he teased.

Her attention turned back to his face as he leaned in and kissed her deeply once more.

Scharff calculated his next move carefully. He let his hand slide between their two bodies pressed achingly close together and found her tender folds through the tightness of her under-gear. To his devilish surprise, she was wet when through the fabric.

Her arousal was tantalizing and a primal carnage took over him. He had to have her. He had to feel her wetness on his cock. He had to be inside her. The feeling seemed mutual to some degree but Lisi exercised slightly more restraint. While his fingers caressed her inner folds, she found her legs spreading ever so slightly to allow him better access to her. Her passionate moans acted like an instructional video to her pleasure.

His other hand reached up and slid beneath the fabric of the sports bra. There it was able to cup her soft breasts and ever so slightly he thumbed at her nipple. Her head rolled back as she took in ever sensation. His hand was now strumming back and forth slowly along the outside of the tight leggings.

"Please," she whispered into the air.

"What was that?" he asked not sure if he had heard correctly.

"Please!" she ushered urgently.

That made him smile with a coy grin. He pulled at the fabric containing her breasts. With minimal effort it was off her body exposing her modest breasts. He pressed a hand to the center of her chest and pushed her back slightly. His tongue traced down her chest. When he was about midway he deviated from the path and flicked at her left nipple. The lust she felt was starting to diverge towards frustration as the toying became too much for her to handle.

Without warning her legs brought him in tightly to her body. In that moment she felt his impressive manhood pulsating with desire between her legs just begging to be free from its confinement.

Who was she to deny it this right? She reached down and gingerly snapped away the top button of his pants. They slid to the ground allowing him to kick them away. He raised a brow as the smirk played on his face once more. His hand came up and pushed her further back onto the workbench. He heaved himself up ontop of her and laid her back. He knelt between her legs as he pulled the legging off and tossed them with the rest of their attire.

This was the moment they both had anticipated since that first night they pushed their abilities to be closed off too far. The overwhelming tension between them was now about to come out in an explosion if neither one of them exercised any restraint.

His hands now held each thigh firmly apart. If she tried to close them, he would force them wide once more. He rose up over her like a dominating force. One of his hands skimmed up her inner thigh till it was stroking back and forth along her opening once more. Her eyes rolled back and mouth opened. His hand was warm even against the heat of her sex. He pressed a finger into her opening gently. She was tighter than anything he ever felt.

He worked his finger in a little more allowing her to adjust to the sensation of the foreign digit. She was so wet. Her body was literally begging him to take her.

Her hips rose upwards slightly following the withdrawal of his finger. Her wetness caught the light and glistened for him. His swollen head dripped with anticipation and longing to be deep inside her. He couldn't hold off any longer. Scharff positioned himself at her entrance. One hand held her arms above her head tightly by the wrists while the other held his cock firmly waiting for the right time to strike.

Lisi buried her face into his neck anticipating the shock this was undoubtedly going to bring.

This is what you want, she told herself. This is perfect. You want this man.

She fought the images of her last romantic encounter. This was not the same. She was in complete control. A vision of her mother being held in a similar way flashed in her mind but once again she was able to suppress the though. You have control, she added silently in her head.

Scharff plunged deep inside her. He was shocked when he only got himself in so deep on account of how tight she was. He really had to put some momentum behind his next couple thrusts. Her eyes slammed shut and the tingling arousal was overcome with deep pain. Her teeth drove themselves into his neck but that only seemed to excite him further.

With each deliberate thrust she gasped and groaned but he was reluctant to slow down. She was glad he was persistent cause it only took a few seconds for the pain to subside and carnal passion to take over.

His thrusting quickened and his grasp on her wrists tightened. He wanted to feel his release but he held onto the moment. The way her core flexed with each methodical pump deep within her pussy sent him into an alternate state of mind where he could express his desires on her.

He was getting close. Too close. His body ached with the building climax and yet he withheld his release. With his free hand he brought a finger to the little nub at the stop of her slit. Slowly he let his finger circle the tip of it. Instantly her body went into a writhing spasm and she moaned with the craving sensation to feel her release.

Scharff chuckled seeing her switched to a whole new gear.

"You like that, huh?" he asked.

"Fuck ya! Don't stop!" she begged. This just gave Scharff even more power over her.

He slowed down slightly and she whimpered. When he sped up she would groan. He could control everything she felt.

She had played her role well and she deserved her reward. He quickened his thrusts and pushed his manhood deep within her. His finger played with her tiny nub as he body rocked and quaked with building anticipating.

"Oh!" she called out. "Oh god! I am ….. you're gonna make me!... OH FUCK!" she screamed as he body went as rigid as a board Her body jolted to a violent spasm as Scharff maintained his abuse on her clit. When he knew she was spent he stopped his hand and left his cock buried deep inside her.

She was panting, struggling to move air in her lungs. Her eyes were closed as she gathered what composure she could.

"My turn babe," he told her and without warning he flipped her over onto her stomach. She looked over her shoulder at him and gave him a seductive smirk. He reached forward and held the back of her neck while he repositioned himself at her entrance once more. This time there was not holding back. He pushed his cock inside her once again feeling her muscle tighten around his member.

Her hips rocked up and down meeting his thrusts with a quickening pace. While the one hand held the back of her neck. The other clawed into her firm ass leaving moderate bruises already.

His thrusts were growing erratic as the building anticipation of climax sent his body into overdrive. His body stiffened with the impending release.

"You ready for it?" he jested.

"Yes, it's your turn now!" she called back to him.

His body began to shutter and his engorged cock pulsated with each hot spurt inside her pussy.

"Oh shit!" Scharff called out as his release lasted much longer than he expected. His fingers were on the verge of drawing blood.

Once he was spent he lay draped over her mixing their sweat and juices.

Neither one spoke. Their rhythmic breathing lulled them both into a blissful trance. Scharff's hand slid along her body, down her arm, till it found her hand. He coiled his fingers in hers and held it tight.

"Let's not wait months before we do that again, ok?" Scharff teased.

"Yeah," Lisi replied through deep breaths.

Scharff climbed off her and collected his clothes. Lisi remained on the workbench trying to will her muscles to move once more.

Scharff collected the stealth armour and her rifle and put them back in their proper compartments within the armoury.

"I don't think you'll be needing these at the moment," he told her with a smirk and returned to her side with her own clothing. He handed them to her, kissed her on the back of her neck and stood up.

"Come on. They may think I kidnapped you," he told her.

Lisi got dressed and the two of them exited the armoury and headed back to the main offices area. No one even looked up from their desks as they meandered through the police department.

"Scharff, Lisi!" Jon's voice carried from the opposite side of the building. "Briefing room, fifteen minutes," he ordered.

Both of them nodded simultaneously and kept walking towards their back room. As they passed the men's locker room, Scharff disappeared suddenly inside.

"Hold up," he called back to her.

Lisi wondered what he was doing. In a mere few seconds he returned and grabbed her hand. He chanced a glance around the building to see if anyone was watching before pulling her inside and locking the door behind her.

He had already got the water running as he began stripping down.

"We have a brief! What are you doing?" she questioned.

"We have a brief in fifteen minutes," Scharff corrected. "Plenty of time to get cleaned up and have a bit more fun," he replied with a cocky grin.

The same smile played on her face.

"The last time we played in water, you drowned me," she mocked.

His smirk turned to a sneer.

"For the record, you wouldn't have drowned but I'll make you a deal. I wont hold you down in water ever again … not unless you want me too," he teased.

Lisi rolled her eyes and joined him in the open space shower.

It didn't matter that there was no hot water cause when he pressed his body to hers, she felt the warm comfort of his skin and instantly she felt at ease for the first time since she could remember.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Scharff and Lisi entered the briefing room still damp from their shower. Jon looked up from the papers in front of him to see the pair sit down in their respective chairs.

Both appeared to be masking their smiles and all in all 'good mood.'

Jon raised a brow, smirked and lowered his attention back to the papers.

The briefing room was packed with civilians all wanting to put in their two cents for the terms of their living arrangements with the Enclave. It took several hours for the group to come up with the conditions they assumed the Enclave would agree with. Scharff turned out to be more of an asset then any of them could have expected.

Lisi remained silent, listening to the chatter of the group. She had no idea what rule they had been living under before. It seemed almost pointless for her to even be here. It took a few hours but the list was created and everyone seemed pleased with how it turned out.

It seemed fitting that Jon presented the list this afternoon with a few of the other respected members of the group. Everyone consented to the notion that Lisi and Scharff remain as far away from the negotiation room as possible despite Lisi insisting she'd be on her best behaviour.

When the meeting was over, the group dispersed and everyone went back to their respective business.

"Can I talk to you two," Jon asked indicating Lisi and Scharff to stay.

They turned to face the older man.

"I want you two to be there," Jon indicated.

Both Lisi and Scharff exchanged stunned looks.

"But I thought…" Scharff began.

"Let me finish," Jon went on. "I want you two to watch my back. Set up an observation near the base. Once I am inside you wont be able to have eyes on me but make sure the Enclave doesn't pull a fast one on us," he told them.

"Jon, what if this plan doesn't work?" Lisi questioned. "What if they reject the terms and com after us?"

Jon sighed and scratched his head. In the last few weeks his hair had a lot more grey in it.

"I honestly don't know. I suppose our only other option may be to flee the city and try and get as many people East as possible. Maybe try for Ronto. It may be full of Ghouls but it's the only city still remotely Canadian," he replied feeling like they were dancing on eggshells.

"We'll set up an observation post in the large apartments a bock away. We should have a good vantage spot," Scharff suddenly spoke up trying to get them subject back on the task at hand.

"If things don't go well, don't come after me," Jon ordered looking directly at Lisi. "Do you hear me? You run. Scharff. You get her the hell out of there and don't draw attention to yourselves."

Scharff nodded. Lisi rolled her eyes.

Jon unexpectedly grabbed Lisi and pulled her into a large bear hug.

"We'll have dinner on me tonight if I get back in one piece," Jon told them with an unsettled grin.

* * *

It was the early evening when Jon approached the main base of the Enclave in the city of Vancouver holding the white flag. A block away, high in the twentieth story window of a derelict apartment complex, Scharff and Lisi anxiously from their supine position near a window, watched as Enclave soldiers rushed him with weapons drawn.

They pushed Jon to the ground and placed him in flexy cuffs. The soldiers put him on his feet and carried him into the main base.

All Scharff and Lisi could do was wait nervously for Jon to emerge. Minutes dragged on to hours.

"This is taking too long. He should have been out by now," Lisi said getting increasingly worried. "The list wasn't that long. He should have come out."

"Things take a long time in the military. Everyone needs to approve something like this. Just be patient," Scharff tried to assure her. He went to reach for her hand but she pulled away.

"Not now," she spat.

Scharff grunted and peered back out the window. Within minutes Jon could be seen walking across the large airstrip towards the main gate under guard from a couple soldiers. When they were at the gate, the soldiers released him, turned, and headed back inside the base.

Jon continued to walk unchallenged till he was out of sight in a nearby alley. Lisi and Scharff rushed down to meet him.

"How did it go!?" Lisi demanded.

Jon was smiling.

"They accepted all the terms. They want peace just as much as we do. Nothing was contested. As a sign of good faith, they are going to park a truck full of supplies in the main square for us to take. We just need to pick it up first thing in the morning. In exchange, we go back to work that afternoon with paid wages," Jon said as his eyes filled with tears. "Can you believe it?! We won!" he cheered and took both Lisi and Scharff in his massive arms and squeezed them tight. "Come on, let's head back and share the news!"

When they got back to the police station, Jon couldn't wait to spread the word to all. Scharff and Lisi disappeared amongst the cheers and hugs that overwhelmed everyone inside.

In their back room, Lisi seemed unusually quiet despite the outcome of recent events.

"What's wrong?" Scharff asked leaning up against the wall of the large room.

"I don't know. I should be celebrating just like everyone else and yet I don't feel this was my victory," she explained.

Scharff approached her, wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and held her in his arms.

"Cause this isn't your victory. The issues in this city weren't your issues. Your grudge with the Enclave is personal and no one is going to understand that but you. Honestly Lisi, I'm not sure you'll ever get peace of mind for what happened to your parents and the life you led because of it. That's not to say I think you should linger on the subject. If you continue to dwell on such issues, you're never going to be happy," Scharff tried to rationalize.

That wasn't the ideal feel better speech but Scharff had a point. Perhaps she was looking too much at the smaller picture. Things in Vancouver would finally be settled. If they so chose, Lisi and Scharff could make a life for themselves here.

Lisi forced a smile but she couldn't match the feelings to go with it. She slipped from Scharff's arms and kissed him on the cheek.

"I just want to be alone for a bit, ok?" she asked.

Scharff understood her need and nodded. "I'll be here, ok?" he told her.

She smiled halfheartedly and left the room. She left the police station for a change of scenery and a chance to clear her head. Just a few blocks away, a park in shambles seemed like the ideal place to gather thoughts. She sat on the only seesaw that wasn't a threat to her life with rust and missing bolts.

As she sat bending her legs to push off the ground something came to her. She knew this place. She'd been here before. Her mother and father, her real mother and father used to take her here. She remembered playing with the other children and having ice cream on a park bench over looking the playground that no longer remained.

In that moment, she began to cry.

No matter how hard she wanted to, she would never be able to come to terms with what happened. The chance for a normal, happy life with parents who loved her was stolen away. Instead, she was locked in and underground hellhole where she never fit in with a step mother who viewed her as a burden and an adoptive father who had been the catalyst for it all.

Haynes – the man who was responsible. Could she really hate him? After all, she had found some happiness. She had Jon and his family for support. Haynes had helped her escape the Enclave and had even allowed her to find some one else who she found herself surprisingly needing. Scharff was perhaps the best thing to come out of it all.

The emotions she felt were conflicting beyond reasonable logic and she found herself trapped between hostility and serenity.

The sun was beginning to set but Lisi didn't feel like going back, not tonight. Instead, she made her way through the city to her family home. She made sure to cut through back yards so not to see Abbey's place across the street and be tempted to finish the old bitch off.

She pushed through the fence where some boards were missing and entered her backyard. The graves of her parents were prominent in the Earth side by side one another. She lay down on the ground between the two graves and closed her eyes picturing she was in their arms once again.

* * *

The sun was high in the sky when Lisi woke up.

Shit! How long had she been asleep for?! Surely everyone was worried sick about her and she wondered if the entire peace treaty had been compromised due to her absence. Surely it would have roused panic amongst Jon and the others.

She hurried back to the police station to see Scharff standing outside with what appeared to be a semi automatic assault rifle.

"There you are!" he shouted at her as she came running up to him. "Where the hell were you?! I was out all night looking!" he snapped growing increasingly angry. "I thought you'd been taken! Jon's inside about to send out a task force to look for you!"

"I'm sorry! I feel asleep" Lisi tried.

"You fell asleep?! Out there?! At this time?! Do you have any idea how stupid that was!? The most pinnacle moment in these people's lives and you nearly cause it all to come crashing down!" he yelled.

"Don't act like any of this means anything to you! You couldn't care less what happens to these people!" Lisi snapped back defensively.

Lisi saw Scharff's face turn a shade of red she never saw in a man's face before. She braced thinking he was going to strike her.

"I gave up everything to be here with you! To help you reclaim these people's lives. I was a Major. I had every slut in that place spreading her legs for me! I was a decorated hero in the eyes of every soldier in there. I've lost my friends, my home and my sense of belonging. I disgraced my name. All of it for you, and you think I don't care?!" he hollered visibly shaking with rage.

"So go back! I am sure your 'family' would love to welcome back a traitor. I bet you don't get within a hundred meters before they fill you with bullets. Men you called your friends now taking up arms against you. That's what you feel proud to belong to?"

Scharff had put up with enough, turned and stormed away back inside the police station. Lisi followed a few seconds later but rather than try and catch him, she looked for Jon to ease his mind about her overnight absence.

When Jon saw her, his expression was similar to that of Scharff's. Before he could even shout at her, Lisi explained where she had been and why. Jon's face was torn between wanting to yell at her and understanding. He chose to let it go.

"I'm just glad you're safe," he finished with. "Now, where's Scharff? We're suppose to be heading out to get the supplies in five minutes."

Lisi's gaze fell.

"I don't think he'll be coming with us," she mumbled starting to feel some regret over what she had said to him.

"You two get into a fight?" Jon asked. Lisi nodded.

"I may have gone too far with this one," she added. Jon raised a brow.

"Oh?" he asked intrigued. Lisi explained the altercation to him. Jon smiled.

"You know, that man's a mystery to me. Haven't you ever wondered why he gave it all up for you? Why you were so special? I don't think you give him enough credit. Maybe you'd benefit from taking a bit of the spotlight off yourself and tried to understand him a bit better," Jon suggested.

Lisi had never thought about this before. Jon was absolutely right. Scharff knew about her fucked up past and yet, she knew nothing of his. Perhaps he too had some dark secrets. Now, Lisi truly felt ashamed that she never once bothered to get to know Scharff. Everything had been about her.

"You know, you really let your age show when you come up with tuff like this," Lisi teased.

"Marriage and years will do that to you my dear," Jon laughed. "Stay behind. Work things out with him. We'll go get the supplies," Jon told her. Lisi smiled.

"You sure you don't need our help?" she asked

"We'll be just fine. We wont be longer than a few hours."

Lisi nodded and watched as the Police stationed emptied of people all bound for the square to retrieve their goodie bag.

It was time to set things right. She walked to the back room and knocked before letting herself in. It was funny how the roles were reversed. Lisi found herself needing to play the sympathetic card. That may not have been her strong suite but she had to try.

Scharff was leaning over the desk pushed into the back corner of their room. He looked over his shoulder at her with eyes that felt like they could burn her from the inside out.

"What?" he snapped angrily.

"I'm sorry," Lisi spoke softly.

"Why?" he replied with no change in his attitude.

"I've put myself and my issues above everything else. I don't think if every dawned on me … just how much you must care about me to be here," she said as she moved towards him.

He stood his ground, his expression unwavering. It was clear he wasn't convinced.

"You were right. You gave up everything you've had and done to be with me and I've never appreciated that. Truth is, I can't imagine where I'd be without you. We may not have gotten off on the right foot," she said with a slight laugh. "But it's clear I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. We may really suck at trying to kill one another, but we seem to be descent at keeping each other alive," she told him hoping this would be good enough to just get him to talk to her.

His blank expression lingered for several seconds. He stood straight remaining in place. The seconds went on. Finally a weak smile grew on his face.

"I was starting to worry that the soul of yours would never thaw," he teased and extended his arms out to her.

Lisi placed herself in his hold.

"And about those sluts," she began. "You…"

Scharff laughed and turned her chin up so he could kiss her. It was short but it gave them both piece of mind that they had moved on.

"Have the others left already?" he asked.

"Yeah, should we go and help out?" she asked. Scharff nodded.

They left the police station heading for the square. As they rounded a corner, they could see the large truck parked with everyone gathered around it divvying out supplies. Jon stood with his family supervising the exchange of goods. When he saw the pair, he waved them over.

Just as he did there was a blinding white light and everything went black.

* * *

The ground felt hot. Everything felt hot. Her ears were ringing. The world was spinning and after a few seconds of lying on the ground, she knew what had just occurred. It stung to open her eyes but she forced them just a crack. Everything was fuzzy and everything looked to be on fire. She tried to call out to Scharff but she couldn't find her voice. Her throat burned. That's when she felt a hand slip into hers and squeeze it tightly. She painfully lifted her head to see Scharff lying beside her. Neither of them was able to move for what seemed like an eternity.

Something had exploded, but what? When Lisi was able to lift her head a little bit more her eyes took to focus on the carnage before her. The place where the truck had been was nothing but a flaming crater. People lay scattered all over. The entire square was filled with bodies. Some couldn't even be recognized from the amount of burns or lack of limbs. Men. Women. Children. No one was moving. No one was screaming. They all just lay still.

"Scharff…." Lisi choked.

"I got…..you," he gasped back to her.

Scharff was able to get his bearings quicker than she. He got to his feet and helped her to hers. They had been significantly further from the truck when it detonated.

"Jon!" Lisi groaned scouring the scene for any sign of Jon and his family.

Bodies were so disfigured, any recognition was impossible, but luck to some extent was on her side cause she found her friend in a sea of bodies.

"JON!" she screamed falling to her knees at his side. He was missing both arms at the shoulders. Despite the gruesome wound, there was very little blood coming from them. Some how, he opened his eyes and looked her in the face. In the next second, Scharff was beside her trying to look for anything he could treat Jon's wounds with but he knew it was pointless.

"Make it right…." Jon groaned looking at Lisi with deeply saddened eyes.

Tears streaked down Lisi's face. Only one word could describe how she felt just now and that was despair. It was over. It was all over. They had lost.

"I'm so sorry. I should have been here," she cried.

Jon just smiled and she felt his body go limp.

"Jon! … JON!" Lisi screamed but she knew he was gone.


End file.
